The Millennium Heart II: Waking The Dragons
by PharaohsThrone
Summary: Part 2 of the adventure. Yami and Rose have to put aside their worries of the past when a new threat arrives, causing their very souls to be at stake in each duel. Meanwhile, an old friend has come back with ill intentions, and Rose will stop at nothing to make sure that her plans do not succeed. Their only hope is the three Legendary Dragons and the secret power they wield.
1. Chapter 25 - A New Threat

Chapter 25 - A New Threat

A week later, Rose stood outside the Domino museum, tapping her foot impatiently. _I wonder what was so urgent, _she thought_, isn't Yugi supposed to be at school right now? _That's when she noticed the familiar head of spiky hair, but it was Yami approaching her however, not Yugi.

"Hey, what's up?" she said when he reached her.

"I think I've finally figured out how to unlock the past," he said. He was holding Yugi's school bag, so Rose assumed that he had skipped out on his last class.

"Really?" Rose's face lit up, "That's awesome!"

"Yes, I can't explain it, but it's as if the god cards were calling out to me, leading me to the museum_, _where in lies the secret to our lost memories," he said.

"That's great!" Rose said, becoming quite excited.

"Yugi!" a familiar voice called from behind them. They turned around and noticed the rest of the gang were running over to they had been looking for Yugi everywhere, and were wondering why he had skipped class.

"There's something I need to do," Yami said, "and it could be dangerous. I just didn't want to put any of you in harm's way."

Tea put up her usual argument that as a group, they all backed each other up, and therefore were all in this together.

"She has a point," Rose said. "The more, the merrier."

"Alright," Yami said, "Follow me." They walked inside the museum and found the ancient tablet that depicted the story of the nameless Pharaoh. Joey and Tristan babbled on about how confusing the situation was, but Rose and Yami weren't paying attention.

_"Are you sure about this?" _Yugi asked.

"Yes," Yami said with confidence. He turned to Rose.

She nodded, "Let's do this." Yami held up the three god cards in front of the tablet, and they lit up with a bright gold light.

"Whoa," Joey said. The millennium puzzle carved into the stone also lit up. "Do you see what I see?"

"What's going on?" Tea asked. Rose's Millennium Heart lit up, and she instantly knew that something was wrong. Before she could voice her concern however, the cards and the stone dimmed, and Yami started struggling with the cards.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked him.

"I don't know," he said, "I feel as if a dark power is draining the power of the god cards!" he continued to struggle with them in his hands. Joey urged him to drop them, but he was unable to, and the gang had no idea what to do. Then they heard someone scream outside. Yami was finally able to let go of the cards and they all ran out of the museum to see what the commotion was.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Joey said. In front of them, several monsters were terrorising the citizens of Domino city. "It's like a horror flick out here!" Tristan said that it must have been someone's duel Disk going nuts, but they figured that there must have been more to it than that, as the monsters were all over the city. They decided to go see Kaiba to figure out what was going on. Unfortunately when they reached Kaiba Corp, there was a hoard of reporters at the front door, demanding answers. They decided it would be better to go back to Yugi's house and wait for the press conference Kaiba promised would be televised later.

...

The five of them sat in Yugi's living room watching the news, it appeared that these monster sightings were happening all around the world, which confused them all even more. It then cut to the statement from Kaiba Corp.

_"We've done extensive testing of our holographic simulation systems, now I can confirm without question that these sightings are unrelated to Kaiba Corp. Our state of the art technology is working perfectly."_

"Well if his company isn't projecting these monsters then who is?" Tristan asked.

Rose had barely said a word since they had been there, but she spoke up, "Tristan, I have a feeling they're not projections," she said, still looking at the TV.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Yami said, he turned to the others, "Perhaps the force I felt in the museum led to the emergence of these monsters." It was a far fetched idea, but then again, they had come across a lot of crazy stuff in the last couple of years.

They then heard a disturbance from downstairs.

"What was that?" Rose asked, turning to Yami.

"That sounded like Yugi's grandpa," he said. They quickly ran downstairs to the game shop where they found Yugi's Grandpa lying on the cold tiled floor.

"Grandpa!" Yugi said, running over to him, "Are you alright?"

"What happened Mr Moto?" Joey asked as the rest of the gang crowded around him.

"They're gone," Solomon said sadly.

"Who's gone?" Rose asked him. He explained how Yugi's god cards had been taken from him, and everyone gasped.

"Who did this?" Joey asked. When Solomon didn't answer, Joey ran outside, calling behind him, "I'll find them!"

"Joey wait!" Yugi called out. They followed Joey outside, and stopped dead in their tracks. Obelisk the Tormentor was towering high above the city. It was an unbelievable sight. He was soon joined by the other god monsters as well. The gang didn't know what to think of this. Thaey were distracted from the god monsters however when 3 bright lights blazed up in front of them, blinding their eyes. It sounded like there were 3 motorbikes in front of them.

"Do you blokes want those cards back?" an unfamiliar voice taunted.

"They're mine!" Yugi said, stepping forwards confidently.

They just laughed, "All you gotta do is get past us," another voice said.

"Those cards don't belong to you!" Yugi said.

"If you think you've got what it takes to win them back, then follow us," they turned on their bikes and sped off down the street without another word. Rose was already jumping on her bike to follow them, as it roared to life beneath her.

"Rose! Wait!" Yugi called out.

"I'll get those cards for you!" Rose called back as she sped off after the three men. After pursuing the three men for only a matter of seconds, they somehow managed to lose her.

"What the?" Rose said, looking around. She could hear the sound of their engines in the distance. _I've got to get Yugi's cards back, _she thought.

* * *

Hey guys! I'm back XD

I apologise for the short chapters, when i originally wrote this story it was just one long story, not split into chapters, so its hard to pick the right spots for chapter breaks, and therefore the chapters may be quite un even, sorry :/

anyway, i should let you guys know that i start uni again on monday (this whole time ive been in holidays which is why ive been able to write so much) and this term i'm going to be really busy as i have to be at uni 4 days a week :/ so updates may be a bit slower and i apologise in advance, but unfortunately education means a tiny bit more than writing fan fiction :(

Anyway, hope you liked the chapters! I'm always happy to hear what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	2. Chapter 26 - The Seal Of Orichalcos

Chapter 26 - The Seal Of Oricalcose

"Figures those grease monkeys would lead us to this place," Joey said as the gang walked across the roof of a warehouse. That's when they heard someone laugh just ahead of them.

"I'm not interested in duelling you, little girl," they turned and saw a robed man waving a dismissive hand at Rose.

"Rose!" Yami called out. She turned around, and the robed man walked in front of her, towards the gang, obviously not interested in her. She glared at his back.

"I'll make this short," he said to Yami, "I possess something that you want; the god cards. And you possess something that I desire; your soul!"

Rose sulked and walked back to the gang, "I wanted to duel him," she huffed.

"You'll get your chance," Joey said. They watched as the duel commenced as any other duel would. But then the robed man played a magic card that nobody had ever seen before.

"I activate the Seal Of Oricalcose!" he bellowed. A large green circle surrounded by script in an undecipherable language encircled the field, and and odd 6 pointed star formed itself inside the circle.

"What's going on?" Yami asked, looking around in confusion. The circle pushed out Tristan, Joey, Tea and Rose, and they fell backwards from the force. "My friends!" Yami called out, trying to run back to help them, but when he reached the outside of the circle, an invisible force pushed him back. He turned back to his opponent, demanding what was going on.

"The Seal stops us from exiting, and anybody else from entering," the robed man explained. He then said that when the duel is over only one person will be able to walk out, as the loser gives up their soul to the oricalcose. The seal also gave his monsters a 500 point boost, already giving him an advantage.

"What's with that guy?" Rose asked, staring at the robed man, "He has that symbol on his forehead."

"And he has that weird tint in his eyes," Tea said, "This is creeping me out." They noticed that the three biker punks had gathered on the roof above them to watch the duel.

_This must have been a set up, _Rose thought. _I hope Yugi and Yami can kick this guys butt back to wherever they came from. _

They watched as the duel continued. Yami managed to summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, but the robed man summoned Obelisk, who had 4500 attack points thanks to the seal of Oricalcose. Obelisk destroyed Valkyrion, and took a chunk out of Yami's life points. The robed man then explained how a great beast was going to rise and that Yami's soul was going to fuel it, and they already had some souls. Yami managed to use his three magnet warriors and his brave attack card to take down Obelisk, much to his opponent's dismay. The man then managed to summon 7 monsters thanks to the special ability the seal granted him, but Yami used Defusion wave motion with his Dark Magician Girl to destroy them all and defeat his opponent. The gang all watched in amazement as the seal surrounded the man and and he called out for his master to spare him.

_Master? _Rose thought, _Does this mean there's a higher power responsible for all of this? _

When the seal disappeared he fell to the ground. The three biker punks turned to leave, but Yami called out to them to hand back the god cards.

"Sorry, you didn't hold up your end of the deal, pal," one of them said, "You have to beat all of us, not just one of us. But I'll tell you what, this is for being such a good sport." He threw two cards down to Yami.

He flipped them over in his hands, and was quite shocked to see what was on them. "Rex Raptor and Weavel Underwood?" he asked, looking back up to the three men.

"I released you friends souls as a gift," the tall blonde one said.

"I'll give you a gift!" Joey called out, "Just come down here and get it! It's the gift that keeps on giving again and again!" They just laughed at Joey's antics and left without another word.

"Calm down Joey," Rose said, "We'll get those card back _without _violence."

Yami walked over to the man's unconscious body and picked up a card that was lying next to him, "So it's true," he said, "When this man lost the duel, he lost his soul."

"Hey, look at this," Rose said, picking up a shining green rock.

_"What's that?" _Yugi asked.

"That was around his neck," Tea said. "Do you think it has something to do with all of this?"

"I don't know," Yami said.

...

Back at Yugi's house later that night, he and Rose were examining the rock they had found.

"Hey Gramps, have you ever seen anything like this before?" Yugi asked as Solomon walked past his room. He stopped and walked in to take a closer look.

"Hmm, let me see..." Yugi handed the shiny green rock to his grandpa. Solomon turned it over in his hands with a puzzled expression. "I'm afraid I haven't come across any stone like this before, but I don't trust it," he said, eyeing it carefully. "However, it may hold some answers about this whole situation, I would hold onto it if i were you, but be very careful." Yugi nodded as his grandpa went back downstairs.

_"Your grandfather is right in saying not to trust it," _Yami said.

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked.

_"I can almost sense a dark presence coming from it..." _

"Do you think it was possessing that guy that you duelled?" Rose asked.

_"I'm not sure," _Yami said. _"But that's not going to be the last of them we see, that's for sure. And next time we face them, we need to be prepared for whatever they are going to throw at us."_

"You're right," Yugi said, "But we don't know anything about this oricalcose thing. How do we know if our deck will be strong enough next time?" he asked, sounding quite worried.

_"We don't," _Yami said,_ "we'll just have to believe that our deck is strong enough to overcome it." _

Rose then thought for a moment, "I have something that might help," she said, pulling her deck out. Yugi watched on, confused as Rose sorted through her cards. She soon found the ones she was looking for, "Here," she held them out to him with a smile.

"Your Knight cards?" Yugi stared at them, puzzled.

"I want you to have them," Rose said. She handed them to Yugi and he looked down at them. Queen's Knight, Kings Knight and Jack's Knight.

"I can't take these, they're some of your best cards," he said, holding them out to her to take back.

She shook her head, "I have plenty of good cards. Besides, you'll need them more than I will, your deck needs to be as strong as possible, remember? These knights have always been great cards to me, so I'm sure they'll do the same for you," she gave him an encouraging smile.

"Are you sure?" Yugi asked her.

Rose nodded, "And like when you had Joey's Red Eyes, you'll have a part of me in your deck, so technically I'll be helping you kick butt," she grinned.

"Thanks Rose," Yugi said, putting the cards with his deck.

_"Now we're one step closer to defeating whoever it is that is causing all this madness," _Yami said.

"Let's just hope we can find out exactly who it is before it's too late," Rose said.

* * *

tada! and the maddness of the oricalcose begins!

prepare for feels, people.

This was one of my favourite seasons of YGO, so i hope that my writing can do it justice (although i do change the story up a bit)

I hope you guys like are liking it so far, because this is where it gets serious dun dun DUN!

Would love to hear what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	3. Chapter 27 - Legend Of The Dragons

**Chapter 27 - Legend Of The Dragons  
**

The next day they had just grilled Rex and Weevil about what happened, when they were approached by Rebecca Hawkins. Tea filled Rose in about how they had met her and simultaneously glared at Rebecca's back as she clung to Yugi's arm. Rebecca then explained to him that her grandpa wanted to see him.

"Professor Hawkins wants to see _me_?" Yugi asked, quite confused. They all went to the museum and met Arthur at the same place they did last time they saw him-when he told them all about Rose's millennium heart. He explained how he thought the monster sightings had something to do with the ancient monsters that were conjured up for battle over 5000 years ago.

"So you think these monsters have come back?" Rose asked him.

"Yes," Arthur said, "But there's more. Ever hear of the lost city of Atlantis?"

"I read a great book about it once," Tea perked up.

"In my latest expedition, I may have discovered that very city," Arthur said, "An underwater world that existed long before ancient Egypt. But what really puzzled me, were the carvings I saw on the walls. Take a look," he handed some photos to Yugi.

"No way," Yugi said, looking through them, "Duel Monsters."

"Precisely," Arthur said, "So these monsters didn't originate 5000 years ago in Egypt, they lived over 10 000 years ago in what i believe to be the legendary city of Atlantis."

"Atlantis was real?" Tea asked.

"Do you know what this means?" Solomon said, "Your discovery could completely re write history!" he said, sounding quite excited.

Arthur explained that there was still a lot he did not know, and Yugi noticed that in one of the pictures it looked like the monsters were attacking the city.

"But some of them aren't, look." Rose said, pointing to the picture.

"Hey you're right," Yugi said, "So if only some of these monsters seem to be evil does that mean that the other monsters are good?"

Arthur explained that he hadn't collected enough evidence to be sure, but he thought that there was a parallel world of monsters that existed alongside the human world. He also explained that in Egypt when the monsters threatened to destroy the world, the Pharaoh was there to stop them, and now that the Pharaoh has returned, the world may need his help again.

_"So perhaps this is the evil that Ishizu told us about," _Yami said to himself.

"But where do we start professor?" Yugi asked, "Trying to get all these monsters back to their own world? Or should we focus on finding out what that weird motorcycle gang is up to?"

"Unfortunately this is where my knowledge of the situation ends," Arthur said apologetically.

"Hey wait," Yugi said, "I may have a clue," he pulled the shiny green stone out of his pocket. "The guys we dueled against last night left this behind," he held it out to Arthur.

Professor Hawkins took the rock from Yugi and looked at it closely, "Would you mind if i hold onto this stone?" he asked.

"No of course not," Yugi said. Once they were done in the museum they walked outside and Solomon announced that he would take Arthur and Rebecca to the Airport.

Rebecca clung onto Yugi's arm, "Goodbye cutie!" she said. Tea glared at Rebecca and Rose just laughed.

"What's so funny?" Yugi asked, as Rebecca jumped into the cab.

"Oh, nothing," Rose said, composing herself. She could see Yami holding in a chuckle also.

Yugi sighed, "Just when I thought things were getting back to normal, they went and got 10 times weirder," he mumbled.

_"Yes," _Yami said, _"and this time the situation seems more treacherous than ever." _

That's when Yugi thought he heard someone calling for help, but the gang brushed it off and told him to get some sleep.

"Did you hear anything Rose?" Yugi asked.

"Sorry Yug, I didn't hear a thing," she said with a shrug. He just sighed and they walked home.

...

Rose was woken that night by lights shining in her eyes. She rolled over and looked at the clock, "What the...?" She climbed out of bed and looked out the window, "What's going on?" she said, staring at the sky.

Right in cue, Yugi came running into her room, "You see those lights too?" he asked.

Rose nodded, "Yep, have any idea what it is?" she asked.

"No clue. But look-there's the monsters." They saw the horde of monsters traveling towards the lights. That's when they saw Solomon standing on the footpath out the front of the game shop. They both ran downstairs and out the front door, to stand next to the old man.

"Grandpa, what's going on?" Yugi asked him as they all looked up at the sky.

"Those monsters appear to be trapped in those lights," Solomon explained.

"Oh no," Yugi said, his eyes widening, "It's happening." He started running towards the centre of the city, without any bother of explanation.

"Yugi wait up!" Rose called out, trying to catch up with him, "What's happening?"

As they ran Yugi explained the dream he had just had where the Dark Magician Girl told him about the dominion of the beasts. He explained how both worlds were in danger of the great beast, as it was taking souls from both sides for its rebirth. They reached the city center and saw the gang standing there staring at the display above them. When Rose and Yugi looked up again a massive eye appeared, and it started sucking in all of the monsters, in an attempt to capture their souls.

"What _is_ that?" Joey asked.

"I don't want to find out," Tea said worriedly, slowly stepping back. She grabbed Rose's arm, as if ready to run and pull the girl with her. Rose wondered if Tea thought she was so stubborn that she wouldn't run if somehow attacked them. Then again, she wouldn't be sure until it happened. The eye then suddenly shot a huge tornado towards the ground-the attack that Tea had been anticipating-and everyone screamed and ran out of the way. It was no surprise how fast Tea pulled Rose away with her to get out of the destructive path of the beast.

Rose then turned around, realising not all of them had ran. "Yugi! Come on!" she called out to him, stopping where she was. Yugi didn't move though, he stayed where he was, right in the firing line of the beast in the sky. Tea had let go of Rose's arm so this time it was Joey who grabbed her, dragging her back to where the rest of the gang was.

"Yugi is still back there!" Rose said to him, trying to pry her arm out of his grip. They reached the rest of the gang, and upon hearing what she said, Joey turned around.

"Yugi!" Joey called out to him.

"Get back here dude!" Tristan yelled. Either he couldn't hear them or he had made up his mind, because he wasn't moving. The tornado struck the ground around Yugi, and the gang could no longer see him.

"Yugi!" Tea called out, "What's he doing?!"

Yugi stood his ground while strong winds gusted around him. He then noticed the card on the top of his deck start to glow.

He pulled it out, "It's that dragon we released!" he said, remembering back to his dream. "I summon Timaeus!" he said, holding the card above his head. The great dragon appeared above them, and upon Yugi's command, destroyed the beast in the sky with one shot.

The gang then ran over, and Rose looked over Yugi's shoulder to the card he was holding in his hand. "Is that the dragon you were talking about?" she asked him.

"Mhmm," Yugi nodded his head. "But that beast isn't gone for good. Timaeus is strong, but not strong enough."

_"We need to release the other two dragons," _Yami said.

"Then will you be able to defeat it?" Rose asked.

_"Let's hope so." _

* * *

Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying this story so far, i have some great ideas ahead!

I'm afraid i may not be able to update as often as I've started uni again, but I'll try my best!

Always happy to hear what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	4. Chapter 28 - A New Direction

**Chapter 28 - A New Direction**

The gang were sitting in Yugi's room the next morning watching the news flash on Yugi's laptop. It seemed that whatever happened in Domino last night happened all around the world as well. They were just discussing what that could mean when there was a knock on the door. They all looked over and saw Solomon holding a package.

"What's that gramps?" Yugi asked.

"It's a package for you that arrived in the mail," the old man said, handing it to Yugi.

He stared down at the package in his hands, quite confused. "Who's it from?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Solomon said, "My eyesight's not what it used to be," he said with a laugh.

Yugi flipped the package over and looked at the name of the sender, "Oh no," he said, looking down at it.

"Let's see..." Rose said, leaning over to have a look, "From the office of Maximillion Pegasus." There was a moment of silence before Joey, Tea and Tristan started freaking out. "What's the matter?" Rose asked, looking at them oddly. "Pegasus is the creator of Duel Monsters, what's the fuss?"

"He can't be trusted!" Joey said, waving his arms at the package, "Burn it! Throw it out the window or something as long as you don't open it!"

"Calm down Joey," Rose said, grabbing his arms before he hit something, "What's the matter?" she asked again, completely clueless.

_"A few years ago Yugi and I along with Joey competed in a Duel Monsters tournament run by Pegasus,"_ Yami explained.

"Duelist Kingdom," Rose said, clicking her fingers, "Yeah, I heard about that."

_"Well the way that he convinced us to join however, was by capturing Yugi's grandpa's soul."_ Yami said grimly. Yugi looked slightly troubled being reminded of it.

"No way!" Rose said in disbelief, "He actually did that?"

"Uh, who is Rose talking to?" Joey asked. She simply ignored him, too fascinated by Yami's story.

_"He did, and he lured Kaiba into it as well by doing the same to his little brother. Unfortunately though Kaiba lost his own soul when trying to save Mokuba." _

"That's nuts," Rose said, "How did he manage that?" she asked.

_"Back then Pegasus was the holder of the Millennium Eye. That allowed him to capture souls inside cards." _

"Wow," Rose said, "I had no idea that he was doing that...Okay that gives you good reason not to trust him." She turned back to the rest of the group who were still eyeing off the package.

"This is just like Duelist Kingdom all over again guys, let's toss that thing!" Tristan said, pointing an accusing finger at it.

Surprisingly, Tea argued against Tristan's idea. "No, we've got to open it," she said.

Joey gulped, "I'm with Tristan on this one, this is exactly how Pegasus stole Grandpa's soul!"

"What are you so worried about?" Tea asked Joey, "It's not like he has the Millennium Eye anymore."

"Good point," Tristan said, "Last time we saw him he _was_ a little less creepy."

Joey shook his head, "I still think it's bad news," he said, crossing his arms.

"What do you think we should do, Pharaoh?" Yugi asked him.

Yami looked down at the tape with careful eyes, _"Let's hear what he has to say, after all Pegasus did invent Duel Monsters." _

"And you think maybe he has something to do with what's been going on?" Rose asked.

_"Perhaps, let's play the tape." _

Yugi picked up the tape and turned towards the TV.

"Hey, wait!" Joey said, jumping up to try and stop Yugi.

"Just trust me Joey," Yugi said, turning to look at his friend.

"Yugi knows what he's doing," Rose said reassuringly. Joey looked at her for a moment before he groaned with uncertainty and sat back down again.

Yugi placed the tape in the VCR player and as it started playing, Pegasus appeared on the screen. He explained that he knew who was responsible for the monster sightings but it was too dangerous to mention any details on the tape, so they would have to travel to Industrial Illusions. He also said that he had enclosed in the package a one of a kind card. He stressed that Yugi should not lose the card or let it fall into anyone else's hands, as it was the only way to enter his compound. The video ended and everyone sat there for a moment, a bit taken back by how harsh and serious Pegasus had sounded, it almost seemed like he was scared of something.

After a moment, Yugi stood up, "I'm going," he said confidently. Joey jumped up to try and reason with him, but it was clear that Yugi had made up his mind. So, the gang agreed that they'd go, and would set off for Industrial Illusions the next day.

"There we go," Yugi said, closing his suitcase, "All packed." The gang had left to go back to their respective homes about an hour ago to also prepare for tomorrow's trip. They were unsure of what they would come across on their expedition to go see Pegasus, but they certainly had no idea the events that were to come.

"Have you got everything yet?" Rose asked as she poked her head into his room, "Wow, who knew a girl could beat you at packing a suitcase," she said with a laugh, walking in to sit on his bed.

Yugi laughed, "I guess I've had a lot on my mind..." He hauled his suitcase into a standing position and sat it next to the door.

Rose then noticed a card sitting on Yugi's desk, "Hey, you don't want to forget this," she said, picking it up to give to him.

"Of course, the card Pegasus sent me," Yugi said, taking it from her. He looked down at the card curiously, "He said this card was one of a kind. And it sounds like someone wants to get their hands on it." He turned to the Pharaoh's spirit who was standing beside him absent mindedly, "Have you ever seen this card before?" Yugi asked. Yami appeared to be deep in thought, he was staring into space. "Hello?" Yugi asked, walking around to face him, "Something on your mind?" Yugi asked him, waving a hand in front of the Pharaoh's face.

Yami looked up, _"Did you say something?" _

Rose and Yugi just looked at each other, "Alright spill it, what's wrong?" Rose said, standing up to stand next to Yugi.

_"I'm perfectly fine,"_ Yami said.

"Yeah, right." Rose and Yugi were now both standing in front of Yami, with their arms folded accusingly.

"Come on, we know you," Yugi said, "You're worried about something and you don't want to tell us."

He looked at them both for a moment, and then sighed,_"You're right,"_ Yami said. _"I forgot, I can't hide anything from you two." _ If it had been any other situation, Rose and Yugi would have grinned at each other.

"Then what's up?" Rose asked.

Yami turned to look out the window,_ "It's just that we know so little about what we're up against and who this new enemy is,"_ he explained. _**If I only understood more about my own past, I could be more helpful in answering these questions**_, he thought.

"I heard that," Yugi piped up. "Remember our spirits are together, I know your thoughts."

"Heard what?" Rose asked. She then realised Yami must have thought something to himself, though it wasn't quite to himself. _This i probably what it's like for everyone else when I'm talking to the Pharaoh_, she realised.

The only thing was, she couldn't hear his thoughts, and Yugi could. It was just as well, for the Pharaoh was still trying to understand what his relationship with Rose was like back in ancient Egypt. He knew they had been close friends at least, but under what circumstances? It was hard to imagine when he couldn't even remember anything about her before they met in the 21st century.

"Actually, that's probably why you're worried about all of this," Yugi continued, "because I am too...This seems like our toughest fight yet, and the future of the world is depending on us. What if we mess things up?" he asked, sounding worried.

_"We won't,"_ Yami said reassuringly.

Rose then grabbed the boy's attention. "Yugi, you have all of us behind you, there's no way you'll screw things up," she said with a smile.

"You're both right," Yugi sighed, shaking his head as if to clear his distressed thoughts. "I guess I sound kind of silly," he said. "Let's get some rest, we have a huge day ahead of us, and our new adventure starts tomorrow."

And what an adventure it would be.

* * *

Hello all!

This is getting into the section which i've enjoyed writing very much :D apart from where i'm just following the story line, that part is boring :P but the story isn't! i promise!

In fact, I'm going to go straight onto the next chapter now as I'm so excited for this section XD (and by section i mean im still in this section and im at chapter 41 so...yeah)

Hope you're enjoying the story! Of course you all would know what is to come ;) but _all _of what is to come...mwahahaahaha

Anyway, please tell me what you think!

Over and out,

PharaohsThrone :)


	5. Chapter 29 - A Bump In The Road

**Chapter 29 - A Bump In The Road**

Rose constantly rolled over in her bed that night, trying to force herself to sleep. The more she tried though, the more agitated she got, and thus the less chance that she would get to sleep. Not to mention the fact that her mind was racing back and forth with endless thoughts.

She sighed and sat up, "This is ridiculous," she muttered.

_"Can't sleep, can you?"_ Yami's spirit appeared before her, sitting on her desk chair.

"How'd you guess?" she asked.

He shrugged, _"I can sense you,"_ he said. _"Ever since I met you I've noticed this mysterious, ancient presence about you, and now I know why."_

Rose sighed, "Yeah but what's bugging me is how I ended up here 5000 years in the future with no recollection of anything. I mean, at least you know how you got here, you're spirit was locked inside the puzzle until Yugi solved it, but I've got no clue. It frustrates me that my memory only goes back a few years. And the fact that I have my own body compared to you is another mystery altogether."

_"Hmm,"_ Yami nodded, _"well, how about instead of focusing on what we don't know, we have a look at what we do know,"_ he suggested.

"Alright," Rose said, "So what is it that we do know?"

_"Well we know that back in Egypt I was Pharaoh, and we were somehow close friends as Arthur explained, though I'm not sure where your place was in the palace." _Rose nodded, urging him to continue._ "We also know that when that great evil arrived, I apparently saved the world from destruction, and sealed my spirit inside the millennium puzzle doing so. As I recall, Arthur said you were with me when this happened, so I would assume that whatever happened to you during that time was something similar, as when I returned 5000 years later, so did you." _ He had obviously spent some time thinking about this already, Rose realised. It was a very plausible explanation however, she just wasn't sure how she could have been involved in helping him rid the evil that threatened to destroy all of Egypt, perhaps the world even.

"That's quite possible," Rose said, throwing the idea around in her head, "I just wish I remembered more about my life in the 21st century," she slumped back against her bed head.

_"Let's not worry about that now. At the moment we just have to focus on stopping that biker gang from collecting more souls, and hopefully Pegasus will help us find more answers."_

"Yeah," Rose said, "And we'll take these guys down," she said with a grin.

_"Together,"_ Yami nodded, smiling. _"Now get some rest, tomorrow is a big day."_

...

Just over 24 hours later, their plane touched down in San Francisco, and they were met by a limousine.

"Oh yeah!" Joey said, "The glitz and glamour continues!" He had spent most of the flight drooling over their own private Jet, and Rose assumed that Joey's excitement would not deflate any time soon. She laughed and shook her head as he bounded over to the sleek black car. They jumped in the limo and continued on their journey to Industrial Illusions headquarters.

After they had been travelling for quite a while, Tristan had resorted to silly car games to pass the time.

"Punch buggy green!" he said, punching Tea on the arm, before crossing his fingers so that she couldn't punch him back. Of course there was nothing physically stopping her.

"Ow!" She said, turning to glare at him. "There isn't a car for miles you idiot!"

"Oops," Tristan grinned. Tea just rolled her eyes. Rose turned to Yugi, he hadn't said anything for a little while, and was staring out the window.

"Are you alright Yug?" she asked him.

After noticing that Rose was talking to him, Yugi sighed, "Well I've been better," he said, turning to her, "How about you?"

"Well I've been worse," Rose said with a chuckle.

"Aren't you guys worried about what Pegasus said on the tape?" Yugi asked, "Someone's following him. And I have a feeling it's the same biker gang that stole the egyptian god cards from my grandpa's shop."

"Me too," Joey said, suddenly looking grim. Tea mentioned that they could be walking straight into a trap, and Rose said that they'd just have to be the first ones to reach Pegasus.

A moment later, the car stopped.

"Hey what's the deal?" Tristan asked. The driver got out of the car, and Joey questioned where he'd be going.

Rose scratched her head, "I'm confused, where are we?" she asked. They looked out the window to see only a run down gas station. Tristan didn't sound too happy about that, and the rest of the gang agreed. They watched as the driver disappeared from their view, all of them quite confused.

"So what do we do now?" Joey asked.

"I guess we'll just have to wait until he comes back," Tea said, "maybe he just went to the bathroom."

"Eugh," Rose said, pulling a face. "I'd hate to see what the bathrooms in there are like."

They sat and waited, but unfortunately the driver hadn't returned, and they were getting restless in their seats.

"Oh come on! It's been like 20 minutes," Tea said, sitting up to look out the front windscreen. In turn, they all complained about what could be taking the driver so long. Joey then suggested that they go check on him, and the rest of the gang agreed. They all got out of the car and carefully walked over to the gas station, inspecting the parameter.

"Hello?" Tea called out. The only answer was the whistle of the wind.

"Looks like business isn't exactly booming," Tristan joked. They all inspected the building looking for any sign of life, but they couldn't find anybody.

"Guys, there's nobody here," Joey pointed out, kicking a stone on the ground.

"Then where could he be?" Tea asked.

Rose walked out to the road, looking into the distance. "Hold on guys," she said, holding a hand up. They all looked at her confused, and asked what was wrong.

"Don't you hear that?" she asked. There was a feint rumbling in the distance. After a moment, Joey noticed it too, and then Yugi, who ran out to the road to join Rose. The rest of the of the gang then followed, and they spotted the source of the sound in the distance, a dark blur on the horizon.

"Whoever it is, we've got to flag them down," Tristan said. Soon a group of motorbikes materialised from the blur and grew closer.

"Let's just hope the natives are friendly," Tea said, as the gruff men approached on their vehicles. Upon noticing that the group of teens were standing in the middle of the road, blocking their path, the bikers stopped in front of them.

"You kids shouldn't be roaming around these parts," one of them growled.

"Yeah, you never know who might drive by," another one snickered, a smirk on the edge of his lips.

Joey pushed Tea and Rose behind him protectively, "Hey, you guys gotta problem?" he asked, standing with strong confidence.

"The gas station's closed, so just move on," Tristan said, moving to stand next to him.

_"Yugi."_

"What's wrong Pharaoh?" Yugi asked.

_"This looks dangerous, let me take over."_ Yugi nodded, and the Millennium Puzzle lit up. The next minute, Rose looked beside her and saw the Pharaoh standing there confidently.

"What do you guys want anyway?" Tea asked from behind Joey.

"Didn't I tell you to get lost?" Tristan said, after they hadn't moved.

_"I don't believe they're taking your advice,"_ Yami said camly.

"I guess the spiky haired kid is the smart one," one of the bikers said.

"What now?" Tristan asked.

"I got an idea guys, run!" Joey yelled. They all turned and started sprinting towards the car. Unfortunately though, the bikes could go faster than any of them could run, and the gang became surrounded before they could reach the car.

"What should we do?" Tea asked, as the gang around them revved their engines.

"Whatever we have to!" Tristan said, balling his hands into fists.

Rose's Millennium Heart lit up, and she stepped forward, an excited glint in her eye, "You want a piece of us you punks?" she said with a smirk.

"Lookie here, we got a feisty one," one of them snickered, revving his bike once again.

"Rose, what are you doing?" Tea said, sounding overly worried.

"Alright girlie," one of the bikers said, "Let's dance." They each pulled out a metal bar and instantly started circling the group of teens. They all looked around them, watching the vehicles speed past.

"Rose! Get behind me!" Yami called out after Tea had already done so.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," she said, stepping forwards, still sporting the same smirk. One of them came towards her, with his weapon raised high in his grip.

"Rose!" Joey called out in alarm, trying to reach her to pull her out of the way. Just before the bar hit Rose however, it stopped in mid air, before flying out of his hand. Rose laughed.

"Whoa!" everyone gasped, having no idea what had just occurred.

"Rose, how did you do that?" Joey asked, shocked.

Rose turned around and smiled, "It's something I learned back in that warehouse."

"Of course!" Yami said, remembering what had happened after Joey fell from the stairs.

_"Look! Above us!" Yugi yelled urgently. Rose looked up and saw another section of the stairs had broken off and were hurtling towards them. Before Rose could let out a shriek, the Millennium Heart lit up and projected a bright light between them and the broken stair pieces. When the pieces hit the shield of light, they bounced off and fell to the side, far away from them._

"The millennium heart can conjure up a sort of force field," Yami said. That's when Joey noticed the hint of a gold shine in front of Rose, before it disappeared.

"Geez, don't scare us like that Rose," Joey said, letting out a breath of relief.

"What just happened?" One of the bikers asked, sounding unsure of what to do.

"Hold on, who's that?" another one said. They all turned and saw another person on a motorbike heading towards them. This new biker pulled out a couple of Duel Monsters cards and threw them at the unsuspecting group. The bikers all fell one by one from their vehicles as the new motorcyclist attacked them.

"What's going on?" Tea asked, confused.

"Let's ask questions later," Tristan said, and they all started running back to the car.

"Joey, come on!" Rose said, noticing that he wasn't following. Joey had stopped to look at the card that the biker had used to take the group down. He jumped aside as another motorbike flew past him, hitting one of the gas pumps.

"That's not good," Joey said, before turning on his heel and bolting towards the car.

"Joey get in!" Tea called out urgently. Joey jumped in the car and they sped off, only just missing the explosion from the gas tank. It almost rattled the car as it sped in the opposite direction.

Tea turned away from the explosion, breathing a sigh of relief. "So wait, who just saved us?" she asked.

"Mai did," Joey piped up with a grin, "I saw her."

"Mai?" Tristan asked. That was obviously not the answer he was expecting. Neither was it what anyone else was expecting. They simply shrugged it off though, and relaxed in their seats now that the ordeal was over.

Or so they thought.

* * *

Okay i was too excited for this so you get 2 updates tonight! who loves me? :D

I really appreciate all the feedback I've been getting for this story, so thank you all so much! I was worried initially that id get hate for messing with the original story line, so its great to hear such positive feedback!

As I've mentioned before, as a writer hearing feedback always gives me motivation to keep going, so if there weren't reviewers this story probably would have stopped 10 chapters ago, so thank you!

Hope you're all enjoying it :D

PharaohsThrone :)


	6. Chapter 30 - A Shocking Betrayal

**Chapter 30 - A Shocking Betrayal**

After having the limo brake down on them and then spending a good half an hour hitch hiking to get another ride, the gang finally reached industrial Illusions Headquarters. It was a very tall building, designed to suit the most recent trends in architecture. They all walked inside, admiring the simple but gorgeous modern design. What they noticed as soon as they arrived however, was that it seemed eerily quiet. After looking towards the front desk and noticing it was empty, the gang looked around the large reception area, to find there appeared to be nobody in sight. It seemed very odd for such a large building to be in such silence.

"Hello?" Tristan called out as he looked around, "Pegasus?"

Rose walked over to the abandoned reception desk. "The place is completely empty, Tristan," she said. Joey suggested it could be some kind of holiday, and Tea pointed out that the door wouldn't be open if that were the case. "Sounds suspicious to me," Rose said, walking behind the desk. She curiously poked her way around the desk, looking for some sort of clue as to why there was nobody there. "Guys, the phones are down, too," she said, putting the handset back in it's place with a puzzled expression.

_"I've got a bad feeling about this,"_ Yugi said, his spirit appearing beside Yami.

"So do I," Yami agreed, stepping forwards to look around the empty space. "I suspect the thieves that were after Pegasus may have already found him," he said, his tone grave. "And if that's the case, then I'm sure they'll be expecting us."

There was a moment of silence while the gang thought of what to do next, but were then caught off guard when the doors started closing. They frantically ran towards the exits, but were too slow, and the doors locked tightly once they had fully closed, with the gang almost running into them in the process. They were trapped. Joey and Tristan growled, pushing against the doors, but it achieved nothing. Just when they thought things couldn't get weirder, they heard the sound of a motorbike. A bike? Rose thought, inside Industrial Illusions? They all turned around with bewildered expressions on their faces, wondering where the sound was coming from.

As they had guessed, someone on a motorbike darted out in front of them and skidded to a stop, its tyres screeching on the ground as it did so. The driver was no doubt female, and Joey instantly knew who it was.

He stepped forward, "...Mai? Is that you?" he said expectantly. She took her helmet off, confirming their suspicions. Everyone sighed in relief upon seeing the familiar face. "Hate to say I told you so, but I did," Joey said to them all. "As for you, what brings you to San Francisco Mai?" he asked with a smile. Mai simply glared at him. He was confused at her silence. "Huh? Don't we get a hi?" he asked. "What's with the silent treatment Mai?"

"I'm not Mai," she said bitterly, getting off of the bike. "At least not the Mai you knew." Nobody knew what on earth she was talking about. She looked exactly like their old friend from Battle City. Even Rose knew it was her, and she'd only just met Mai at the very end of the tournament, hours before they went home. Mai then pulled a card out from the top of her deck, "Alright gang, say hello to Pegasus." She held the card up so they could see, and everyone gasped as their suspicions were confirmed, his soul had been captured. But what surprised everyone the most was the fact that Mai was in possession of that card.

"Alright, you better start talking," Joey said, pointing a finger at her.

"Or else what?" a heavily accented voice said from above them. They looked up and saw two out of the three biker punks from a few days ago. "What's the matter Wheeler? Did your little reunion with Mai not go as well as you expected it to?" The one with thick brown hair taunted. The gang were finding it hard to come to terms with what Mai had said, let alone the fact that she was hanging out with these creeps. It wasn't long ago that she had been great friends with them all.

"Tell me this is all a joke!" Joey said to her desperately, not believing that she could be in alliance with their enemy. "You're on our side, remember?"

"You're still our friend, right Mai?" Tea asked hopefully.

"I was never a part of your little play group," Mai said bitterly, "And now I'm going to break you apart one by one." She smirked. This definitely wasn't the Mai they had come to know. It boiled Rose's blood to see her friends betrayed by this woman. Because Rose had never found such loyal friends before, she would be quite willing to set straight anybody who took advantage of them. Rose had heard about Duelist Kingdom and how they had all stuck out their necks for Mai. Not to mention the fact that Joey had almost lost his soul just to save Mai from the shadow realm back in Battle City. After everything they had been through, Rose couldn't understand why Mai was acting this way, and it didn't put the woman very high in her books.

Mai challenged Joey to duel, claiming that she wanted to eliminate him for some unknown reason. He eventually accepted, hoping he could convince her that she shouldn't be with those biker creeps. As her first move, Mai activated the Seal of Orichalcose. The large luminous circle surrounded the field, locking in the two duelists and sealing out their friends. Now only one of them would come out standing.

"It's just as I feared, the seal is controlling her," Yami said, watching as the seal appeared on Mai's forehead. She appeared to be even more bitter and aggressive than before now. Joey tried reasoning with her as the duel played out, but she simply didn't care. It appeared that she only cared about eliminating him. Rose balled her hands into fists, Mai was getting lower and lower on her list the more that time went on, and she felt no guilt in hoping that Joey would win this duel.

"I can't believe she's sided with the enemy!" Tristan raged, not being able to hold back his anger any more.

Rose nodded in agreement, "Don't worry Tristan, Joey will come out on top."

_"They can't go through with this,"_ Yugi said, _"If they do, one of them will lose their soul!"_ Rose then felt a slight pang of guilt. She had forgotten that even though Mai had betrayed them, Yugi still considered her a friend and would be willing to do almost anything to make sure that neither duelists lost their souls. Perhaps Mai's change of attitude wasn't anything to do with her at all, and it was as Yami explained: the seal was controlling her. As much as Rose tried to see it the other way, she still wasn't very fond of the woman, whether she was in her right mind or not. Rose decided to keep her thoughts unspoken however, for she knew not everyone here shared the same opinion. She was still hoping that Joey could somehow talk some sense into her however, for this would solve their problem. Rose wasn't quite sure if that would be possible though.

"The puzzle is powerless against that seal," Yami said, frustrated as he watched the duel unfold.

"Aye Pharaoh!" Valon called down to them, "Quit mumblin' to yourself down there will ya? In case you didn't realise this last time, nothing can break the seal of Orichalcose. Once it appears, it doesn't disappear until a soul's ben captured." He smirked down at them. Joey wasn't going so well by this point, Mai had 6 Harpies on the field and Joey was only barely holding his own. With a measly 200 life points left, he was about to forfeit the duel, thinking that if Mai saw him sacrificing himself for her, that maybe she would see the light. Defeated, he moved to place his hand over his deck.

"Joey no!" Yami called out, causing him to stop in surprise and turn towards the gang. "Forfeiting is not the answer, if you give up the duel you're giving up on yourself and your friends. If you want to save Mai then keep fighting," he urged.

"Are you sure?" Joey asked, sounding unsure.

"Yes, because right now Mai is driven by anger, jealousy and hatred, so you need to remind her what duelling is truly about: trust, conviction, and heart," Yami explained.

"He's right Joey," Rose said, "If you want Mai to see the light, giving up will do nothing, she needs to see you fighting with all of your heart, and that you're doing it for her." Rose certainly wasn't very fond of Mai, but she knew that the blonde meant a lot to Joey, so she wanted him to break through to her as much as the rest of the gang did, especially if her behaviour was all because of the Orichalcose.

"You're right," Joey said, moving his hand away from his duel disk and curling it into a fist. "I forgot what really matters, I forgot the heart of the cards..." He then lifted his head up, determination clear on his face. "This duel is still on Mai, and from now on, I'm giving it everything i've got!" he said, his eyes blazing with a new motivation.

So Joey finally started duelling his best and he was eventually slowly catching up to Mai, keeping his life points in tact for now. They then heard a familiar voice call out from behind them, and turned to see Duke standing outside. Tea and Tristan greeted him, before explaining the situation of how they were trapped inside the building. Duke said he'd try to get them out, and ran off to hastily find a solution.

Suddenly, Joey's deck started glowing, as did Yami's. He pulled out the card on top.

_"The eye of Timaeus,"_ Yugi said. _"It's glowing."_

"That's weird," Rose said, looking over his shoulder. Both Yami and Joey suddenly seemed to be off with the fairies for a moment after that. "Um hello?" she said, waving her hand in front of Yami's face. "Okay, I'm officially confused," she said, staring at him blankly. They then both appeared to come back to reality, and Rose just blinked at them. "What's going on?" she asked, quite confused

"Joey just gained a very valuable card, and he's about to draw it," Yami said, looking towards the duel in front of them with the slightest smirk on his face. Rose smiled, and turned towards Joey.

"Like your Eye of Timaeus?" she asked.

"Exactly." Rose wasn't quite sure how Joey could suddenly have a new card in his deck, but she didn't question it. There were lots of questionable things going on nowadays that she just had to accept, and this would have to be one of them.

Joey was finally catching up in the duel; he and Mai were almost even in life points. Mai appeared to be getting quite distressed about it, too. But just when it looked like Joey might win, Valon suddenly jumped over the railing and somehow broke the seal. The resulting blast blew everyone off of their feet, as they all let out similar cries of surprise as they skidded to the ground.

* * *

Hey everyone!

I'm sorry it took so long to post this chapter, i was so caught up in finishing TMABH and starting Back and Forth that i didnt have much time for this :/ but it's all good! now I'm focusing on this and Back and Forth :D

Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter :) im always happy to hear what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	7. Chapter 31 - A Helping Hologram

**Chapter 31 - A Helping Hologram**

"Joey!" Yami called out in alarm, quickly getting to his feet. "Are you alright?" Joey gave them a thumbs up, as the gang ran over to him. The seal had been broken and the duel ended, neither duelists losing their souls. Raphael had made his way down to the ground level somehow during all of this. He stood up after saying some harsh words to Valon and announced that he would make up for the other's foolishness. Although they were the enemy, Rose couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for Valon. He obviously cared about what happened to Mai and didn't want her to lose, which is why he broke the seal. But Mai and Raphael just got angry at him for trying to help.

"The power around my neck puts your puzzle to shame," Raphael said with a smirk, holding up his orichalcose stone. It illuminated the area, causing everyone to shield their eyes. When the light disappeared however, so did they. The gang looked around in confusion, the only thing they had left behind was Mai's bike.

"Hey, we're not locked in anymore," Tristan said, pointing towards the doors that were now opening.

"But where did those creeps go?" Tea asked. The gang were wondering the same question, when they were visited by another unexpected guest. Rose heard footsteps behind her, and saw Seto Kaiba and his brother Mokuba walking into the building.

"Kaiba?" Yami said, turning around. He obviously had not expected to see the CEO here, considering all the chaos going on that his company was being blamed for.

"What brings you here?" Duke asked them, having return from his endeavour.

"Certainly not the dweeb convention," Kaiba said in his usual cold tone. Rose rolled her eyes, and Seto raised an eyebrow at her. She just poked her tongue out at him. Joey looked at Rose sideways, obviously there was something they had missed. He didn't think that Kaiba and Rose had ever said more than a small sentence to each other.

Seto sent Rose a half hearted glare, and she just smirked at him. "Do you always have such enlightening words?" she asked, crossing her arms. Either Rose was one for bold statements, Joey thought, or her and Seto had conversed more than he thought. He narrowed his eyes; Kaiba wasn't very high in his books, as if that wasn't obvious enough.

Seto decided to ignore Rose's comment, "Any sign of Pegasus?" he asked, turning to the others.

"I'm afraid we're too late," Yami said, gesturing to the empty reception area behind him. "This entire building is empty."

"Mai Valentine got to him before we did," Tristan explained, obviously quite aggravated by the fact.

Rose grabbed Seto's attention again, "She took his soul with the Oricalcose," she said.

Seto raised his eyebrows, it seemed as if he had heard of it before. When Yami questioned him about it, Mokuba mentioned how Seto had just come from duelling against somebody who played it. He then explained how his opponent Allister pretended to be Pegasus and made them fly out to duellist kingdom just to duel him.

"And then he ran away," Kaiba finished the story, "So we came here to get some answers. Whoever captured Pegasus is trying to take over my company," he snarled.

"Hold on," Yami said, pulling out a card from his pocket, "This card Pegasus sent us may be a clue. It seems to contain the image of a key." Duke then piped up, saying that there was a door upstairs that wouldn't unlock even after he cracked the security system, so they all set off to find it.

After exploring the building they soon found the room on the top level, and Yami unlocked it with the key card. The door opened, revealing a room full of duel monsters statues, mainly toon monsters. They gang looked around the room curiously, and Joey commented on how creepy it was that pegasus had a locked room full of these statues. Tristan put it down to some kind of Duel Monsters fetish.

Rose face-palmed, "He invented the game, you idiots."

Seto grunted, obviously not amused by their antics, and walked further into the room. "So what's so important about this place? It's just a bunch of statues," he said, crossing his arms.

As if answering his question, a figure then appeared before them. The gang stepped back with a gasp, surprised by the appearance. It was a very familiar person who was now standing in front of them.

"Pegasus," Yami said in surprise.

"Not quite," Kaiba corrected, "It's a hologram." He held his usual smug smirk on his face, obviously liking the fact that he knew more about holographic technology than everyone else in the room. Being the top of the food chain certainly had its quirks.

Then the Pegasus hologram started to speak, _"Yugi boy! At least I hope it's you that found this room. By the way if you couldn't tell I did all the interior decorating myself, pretty impressive hm?"_ Kaiba just rolled his eyes, obviously not in favour of the decor. _"If you're hearing this, then that can only mean the gentlemen that were after my soul were finally about to capture me. So please listen closely."_ He explained that a mysterious man tried to buy out his company-just like with Seto's-and that this man possessed an ancient power stronger than any he had ever seen. _"His name is Dartz."_ He then continued to explain that Dartz planned to use Duel Monsters to destroy all of civilisation. _"He must be stopped, and the key to taking him down is somewhere in this room."_

Pegasus then explained how he discovered that the monsters existed long before the pyramids of Egypt in the city of Atlantis, and that Dartz plans to resurrect the most terrifying creature that ever roamed the earth, named the great Laviathon. To do this, he needed to drain the souls of man and beast to build up it's power. Pegasus then said he had created an exclusive card just for Yugi, that was hidden in the room.

_"Think strategically now, where can one find an extra card?"_ he hinted.

They all looked around the room, trying to find the answer to Pegasus' puzzle. As Rose looked at all of the statues, one of them caught her eye.

"Pot of Greed!" she said, pointing over at it. Tristan was standing closest to the statue, so he picked up the pot and pulled out a card, flipping it over in his hands as Rose walked over to have a look at it.

"Real special card," Tristan huffed, "This thing is completely blank!" He went to toss it aside, but Rose stopped him, taking the card off of him. Kaiba spared no time in announcing that the card was worthless, though Yami voiced that he thought otherwise.

Rose walked past Kaiba as she walked back to the gang. "Always so single minded, aren't you Seto?" she teased, before she handed the card to Yami, who after examining it, placed it with his deck.

Kaiba obviously was not in the mood for such antics, and he voiced very clearly that he did not want anything to do with this 'magic business'. Of course he didn't believe about the Orichalcose capturing souls, for he had not experienced it first hand like the others had. He left with a huff and the gang then tried to figure out what to do next.

"Well at least we know who it is we're after," Duke pointed out.

"Yes," Yami agreed, "However that's all we have: a name."

"How are we supposed to find this Dartz guy or his motorcycle goons?" Tristan asked, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, it's not like we can look him up in the phone book," Joey said, crossing his arms.

Yami then got an idea, "Wait a minute, Professor Hawkins lives around here," he said. "Maybe he has some new information for us."

"Good call," Tea said, "he did say he was going back home to continue his research." They decided it would be a good idea to go visit the professor, so they headed back downstairs to the front entrance where Joey had duelled Mai earlier.

"Okay, we know where we're going now, but what about how?" Trsitan asked, walking towards the front doors.

"No worries, we'll just take my car," Duke said, swinging the keys around his finger with a grin.

"Are you sure we'll all fit?" Tea asked. There were only 5 seats in the car, and even if they shoved Rex and Weevil in the boot like Joey suggested-much to their dismay-they were still one person too many.

"No sweat guys, I'll just take this," Rose piped up, picking up a sleek purple motorbike.

"Where'd you find that?" Joey asked, having not quite connected the dots.

"Those creeps left Mai's bike here when they split," Rose explained, "And it's not unlike mine, I'll just follow you guys," she suggested.

Everyone nodded, content with the arrangement, and they walked out the front doors of Industrial Illusions, now on the next leg of their new adventure.

* * *

hello everyone! As you probably know, things start to get very interesting pretty soon, and I'm afraid i wont be able to update much in the next week or so as i will be moving house (and I've barely done any packing -.-) and i've also just found out that i may not have internet for a week or so after i move, so even if i get time to write, if i want to publish it, i may have to steal the wifi at my uni or something, I'll figure it out, but yeah just a heads up for you all.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you think :)

PharaohsThrone :)


	8. Chapter 32 - One Less Hawkins

**Chapter 32 - One Less Hawkins**

The gang arrived at their destination just after nightfall, but as the car and following motorbike approached Professor Hawkins' property, they were met with destruction. The large building that used to be there was now a pile of rubble. Everyone's eyes widened in shock at the scene before them.

Rose took her helmet off, staring at the carnage in disbelief, "What happened here?" she asked, getting off of the bike to join the others who had just gotten out of the car.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Joey asked, turning to Yugi. The boy did not appear to have heard him though, Yugi was standing there with a look of absolute terror. Rose guessed from his reaction that this indeed was the right place, and that something horrific must have happened.

Yugi ran over the carnage, desperately looking for any sign of life. "Professor Hawkins?" He called out, looking around "Rebecca? Is anyone here?" he spun around in circles, not being able to believe the sight. Rose walked up to him and placed a careful hand on his shoulder, but before she could say anything, they heard a voice call out from behind them.

"Yugi!" It sounded like Rebecca, and they all turned around to see her running over.

"Rebecca!" Yugi said in relief, "What happened here?"

Rebecca looked at him sadly. "They took my grandpa!" she wailed, running into Yugi's arms. "It's not fair! He didn't hurt anyone!" She sobbed.

"We'll find your grandpa," Yugi said reassuringly, "I promise." Rebecca calmed down thanks to Yugi's comfort, and she lead them all into the caravan. It was a bit cozy for the amount of people they had, but there was till enough room for everyone.

"I still don't get it," Tea said as they sat inside, "Who would kidnap the professor?" she asked.

"I bet this is all to do with his research," Rose said sadly, looking out the window to the rubble that used to be Arthurs laboratory. It had been his very research that had helped Rose in figuring out who she was and what the Millennium Heart was. It broke her heart to see that all his work was now destroyed.

"What do you mean?" Tristan asked, snapping Rose out of her thoughts.

"Well whoever kidnapped him blew up his laboratory," Rose explained, pointing outside into the darkness, "so whatever he was studying must be something that they don't want anyone to discover." She then turned to Rebecca, "what was your grandfather researching Rebecca?"

"Atlantis," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Exactly," Rose continued, "and he believed that the history of Atlantis was linked to all the monster sightings which has to have something to do with Dartz. It all makes sense." Rose felt proud of herself for being the first to think of this, and she was 99% sure that she was right. Why else would Arthur's laboratory be destroyed amidst all of this? She looked over to Yami's who's spirit was sitting beside Yugi. He gave her a proud smile and reassuring nod, showing that he agreed with her theory. She just grinned at him.

"You've got a good point there," Joey said, stretching his arms behind his head as he sat next to Rose. "Does that heart make you super smart or something?" he asked jokingly.

Rose laughed, "No unfortunately not," she said, then decided to add, "I'm just a genius naturally," she grinned.

Rebecca decided to cut in then, a challenging smile on her face, "sorry kiddo, but I'm the genius in the room," she said smugly. Rose was about to send back a witty retort, when Yugi grabbed the girl's attention.

"Hey Rebecca," he said, "what happened to that stone that I gave to your grandpa?"

"I have it right here," she said, lifting it up from around her neck, "He told me to look after it." She handed the stone back to Yugi, who closed his hand around it, silently wishing it would just lead them to Dartz and where they were keeping Arthur.

Tristan commented on how they were probably after that stone also when they kidnapped the professor, and Duke nodded in agreement. Tea then decided to speak up, asking what they were to do next. They eventually decided that seems professor Hawkins wouldn't have what they wanted, that they would probably return, and the best thing to do would be to sit and wait.

...

The gang managed to pull together some food as everybody claimed they were starving, and after not helping prepare at all Joey and Tristan ate until they almost exploded. Tea scolded them for not pulling their weight, and they simply waved it off, too full of food and lazy to care.

"You guys could eat an entire city," Rose said with a laugh, putting her plate in the sink.

"Well, sir Joey here is a self proclaimed food freak," Tristan said as he let his belt out. "He could eat the city on his own."

"True that," Joey said, stretching his arms over his head. Rose shook her head, and then realised that there were a number of people who had disappeared in the last few minutes. The only ones still in the caravan were Tristan, Joey, Duke and Tea. She stood up and went to go outside. "Hey, where are you going?" Joey asked, sitting up straight.

"I just need some fresh air, that's all," Rose sent him a smile before walking outside. Her statement was half true, and as she stood just outside the caravan looking up at the dark sky, she enjoyed the cool night air.

What had started as something small and insignificant, had seemed to turn into something bigger than any of them had imagined. Only a couple of days ago, Rose's biggest problem was figuring out her past and how she got here, but now they were worrying about events that happened even before the pyramids of Egypt were even built, and that was hard to comprehend, even for her. Rose sighed and walked over to a fallen tree, sitting down on the remaining log.

"There more we find out about this whole thing, the more dangerous it seems to get," she muttered to herself, kicking the stones on the ground with her feet.

"I know what you mean," Rose turned in surprise to see Joey standing behind her. She hadn't noticed him follow her outside. He had his hands in his pockets as he looked up at the stars. "Mind if I join ya?" he asked.

Rose shook her head, "not at all," she moved over on the log so Joey could sit down, and he did so with a sigh.

"Where do ya think we're gonna end up next?" he asked.

Rose shook her head, "I don't know Joey. But hopefully we'll get some idea of where to find this Dartz guy soon."

Joey nodded. "I don't understand though, why on earth would Mai be on their side?" Rose noticed him clench his fist by his side.

Rose smiled sympathetically, placing a hand on his shoulder. "She means a lot to you, doesn't she?" she asked.

He nodded, "yeah. After everything we've been through I just don't understand why she..." he trailed off, not quite wanting to finish his sentence. Rose had heard it with her own ears, Mai said she wanted to destroy Joey, to take him apart bit by bit and rid his soul from the earth. She believed that anybody who wanted to do such things mustn't have been right in the head. And that was true for Marik, who had done the same thing to Mai. Only thing was, he wasn't in his right mind, he was being controlled by darkness. There didn't seem to be a logical explanation for her motives. If she wanted revenge for what happened at Battle City, she wouldn't be after Joey, she should be thanking him. Rose had seen what he did during her duel with Marik, when the millennium puzzle showed her those snippets of past duels. The more she thought about it, the more angry she became with Mai. The woman had no reason to be targeting her friends like that, and she wasn't going to just stand by and watch someone attempt to destroy those she cared about.

"I remember back when I met her at Duelist Kingdom," Joey explained. "I had hated her guts at first, and I was sure she felt the same. But the more I got to know her, the more I realised how she needed some good friends. It took some time, but eventually she warmed up to us, after Yugi saved her from being kicked off the island. Then she saved my keister when Bandit Keith stole my Glory of the King's hand card. Without that I couldn't compete in the finals and get that prize money for my sister's operation."

Rose nodded, "I heard about that," she said. "Thanks to Yugi giving you that prize money, your sister could see again."

Joey nodded, "yeah, I couldn't ask for better friends," he said with a smile. "I just wish I knew what had gotten into Mai..."

Although Rose wasn't very fond of Mai, she had to keep in mind that there must have been a higher power at work here. "Don't worry Joey, we'll get the old Mai back, I promise."

Joey smiled at her, "I sure hope so," he said. "Anyway, I'm gonna head inside, it's getting chilly out here," he said, standing up and rubbing his hands together. "You comin' in?" he asked as he headed to the door.

Rose idly looked back up to the starts, "I will in a minute," she said. Joey nodded and headed back inside as Rose's thoughts wandered around aimlessly. They had to find Dartz and stop his plan, and if they didn't do that soon, it could be too late to stop that beast from destroying the earth like it almost did years ago. Rose then heard a clatter from behind her. She turned around, and squinted her eyes as she looked into the rubble of what used to be Arthur's laboratory. Amidst the rubble, were two small figures digging about. Curious, Rose stood up and walked over to them, before pulling out her phone to shine a light in their direction.

The two boys made noises of complaint, "Aye, watch where your pointin' that thing!" Weevil said, shielding his eyes.

"Yeah, turn it off, I can't see a thing!" Rex complained.

Rose sighed and put her phone away, "What on earth are you two doing out here?" she asked.

"We were just uh..." Rex began, trying to think of an answer that didn't involve rare cards.

"Looking for interesting artefacts," Weevil finished with an innocent grin.

"Yeah," Rex agreed, "One person's trash is another's treasure," he said with a nervous laugh.

Rose crossed her arms, "Although this was Arthur's treasure," she pointed out. "I don't think Rebecca would be very happy if she found out you two were trying to salvage stuff from his laboratory.

They both looked at each other, "We'll ask if we find something we like," Weevil said, though the way he said it made it sound like a question.

Rose shook her head, not wanting to bother with these two right now, "Whatever," she said, turning to head back to the caravan. That's when another sound caught her attention. She turned and noticed the last of the two missing people sitting further over at the edge of the rubble.

"Don't be silly Yugi, none of this is your fault at all," Rebecca said reassuringly. Rose was curious, but decided to just go back inside, eaves dropping was incredibly rude. Though she was worried about how Yugi was handling all of this. It seemed that most of the weight from all of this was on his shoulders, and as it had sounded, he must have felt that he was putting everyone in danger during this whole mission. Rose just hoped that he didn't decide to do anything rash and go out on his own to try and fix this.

Little did she know that's exactly what he was about to do.

* * *

Uhoh, Yugi's gonna run away to duel Raphael soon! D:

we all know what happens next :'( Its gonna be hard writing the next chapter or two just right, so bare with me because I do want to do the story justice. But anyway, i hope you're enjoying this so far!

Let me know what you think :)

PharaohsThrone :)


	9. Chapter 33 - Fate of The Pharaoh

**Chapter 33 - Fate of The Pharaoh**

Rose was suddenly disturbed from her sleep. Not by a sound however, a feeling. The Millennium Heart was trying to tell her something, as it glowed faintly on her chest. Something's not right, she thought. She sat up, the rest of the gang were sleeping peacefully just where they had been before. But there was one person missing. _Yugi!_ Rose instantly jumped up and ran outside. The sun had just appeared on the horizon, and Rebecca's horse was missing. I_ should have known he would do this._ Without a second thought, Rose jumped onto Mai's motorbike and it roared to life beneath her.

"Alright Millennium Heart," she said quietly, "lead me to Yugi." Her heart lit up and she knew exactly where to go, as the heart tracked the Millennium Puzzle just like it did when Yugi went missing a few weeks ago. Rose then sped off towards Death Valley without looking back, determined to reach Yugi before something terrible happened. She hadn't bothered to wake the others, for wherever Yugi had gone he obviously didn't want anybody to follow him. But she couldn't let him do this alone.

...

Joey woke up suddenly when he fell onto the floor. He pulled himself back up into a sitting position. Tristan and Duke were still sleeping on the couch and Joey had to restrain himself from laughing at them. He then looked up and saw Rebecca lift her head up from where she was sitting at the table.

"Can't sleep either huh?" he asked. She looked troubled. "Hey, where's Yugi?" he asked, standing up and, looking around, "And Rose?"

"Huh?" Rebecca turned around to where Rose had been sleeping behind her, "Rose is gone too?" she asked.

"Is there something you know Rebecca?" Joey asked suspiciously.

Tristan groaned and opened his eyes, "What's going on?" he mumbled, before pushing Duke off of him, who woke up also.

"Yugi and Rose are missing," Joey said, turning to them.

"What?" Tristan said in alarm. This then woke Tea, and soon they were all looking at Rebecca, waiting for an answer.  
"I promised I wouldn't tell anyone," she explained, "but Yugi went off to duel that Raphael guy. But I'm sure he didn't tell Rose about it, he didn't want anyone to know where he was going," she looked at her feet sadly.

"How could you just let him go like that?" Joey asked, aggravated.

"Take it easy Joey, it's not her fault," Tea said, going to sit next to Rebecca who was starting to become upset.

"I bet Rose went after him then," Tristan said, "So either she knew where he was going or she's going to get herself lost."

"And that will just cause more problems," Duke added.

Joey shook his head, "Nah, Rose will be fine. Even if he didn't tell her where he was going she could have tracked him down with her Millennium Heart, that's how we found Yugi when Bakura lead him to that old warehouse," he explained.

They decided to go after Yugi and Rose, but luckily as soon as they came outside they found Professor Hawkins limping back towards the caravan. Rebecca was relieved to see that her Grandpa was okay, and they took him inside to get some rest. Then, Joey, Tristan and Duke set off in Duke's car to go find Yugi and Rose, while Tea stayed back with Rebecca to look after the professor.

...

Rose knew she was close, she could sense the Millennium Puzzle as she grew nearer. She was riding along the edge of a narrow cliff, and in the distance she could see that the cliff stopped, dropping down into a deep chasm. There appeared to be two wooden stumps that most likely used to bear a bridge sitting at the edge of the cliff. She assumed that would have connected the cliff to the large chunk of earth sitting in the middle of the chasm. She noticed two figures standing there, and it looked like they were duelling. That's them! Rose sped up as she grew closer, and could see that Yami was standing across from Raphael just as she had expected. She soon reached the edge of the cliff across from where they were duelling, and skidded to a stop, only centimetres from going off of the edge. _Oops,_ she thought, _Mai's bike doesn't brake as well as mine, that could have ended badly._ She looked up from the chasm to the duel, as she got off of the bike.

"What the?" Rose was puzzled. She could see everything clearly now, but what confused her was that the Pharaoh was holding a card in his hand, and Yugi was holding on to his arm, as if trying to stop him from playing it. "What's going on? Why are they fighting with each other?" That's when she saw the card that Yami was holding in his hand, and realised why Yugi had been trying so hard to stop him. Her eyes widened with terror. "Pharaoh!" she called out in alarm, "That card is evil! Don't play it!" she pleaded, but it was too late. He had already pushed Yugi away and placed the card in his duel disk. Rose watched on in horror as the Seal of Orichalcos appeared on the field, circling both duellists. But what looked the most terrifying, was seeing the seal on on the Pharaoh's forehead. "Oh no..." she said, unable to believe what she was seeing. Yugi was completely gone, she couldn't see his spirit anymore. She was afraid that the seal had locked him away somewhere, where he couldn't get through to Yami that he had made a horrible mistake. "I can't believe he played the seal," she said, shocked. "Even if it was the only way to free his dragon knight. Who knows what it's going to do to him now..." she watched on as the duel continued.

"The seal rests on _my_ side of the field now!" The Pharaoh bellowed, the red tint in his eyes sending shivers down Rose's spine. "So all of it's ancient powers work on _my_ monsters! Strengthening my Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight with 500 extra points!" His monster broke free from Raphael's crystal seal, but Timaeus thrashed around in complaint, before disappearing.

Raphael smirked, "Did I forget to mention that Timaeus and the Orichalcos don't mix?" he said with a laugh.

The duel continued, and although the Pharaoh was doing quite well, Rose almost couldn't bear to watch, because everything he said, and every move he made, was not like him at all. The seal was controlling him, and he had been taken over by the anger inside him. He sounded greedy and power hungry, and was willing to win this duel at all costs.

"This can't be happening," Rose said, clenching her fists. "Pharaoh!" she called out to him, grabbing his attention. "That card is controlling you! You don't need it's power to win this!"

He didn't look very happy to see her, "I don't need your help," he spat. "I know what I'm doing." Rose stepped back, his tone had caught her by surprise. He would never speak to anyone like that. She sank to her knees, unable to watch as this twisted version of her friend sacrificed valuable monsters to try and lower Raphael's life points. Tears formed in her eyes, but she stubbornly shook them away. That's when a car pulled up behind Rose, and Joey, Duke and Tristan quickly jumped out, running to her side.

"What's going on?" Tristan asked, looking out to the duel.

"Yeah is everything alright?" Joey asked, seeing Rose on the ground.

She didn't look up, only shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid everything is far from okay," she mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Duke asked, "It looks like Yugi is winning," he said.

"Take a closer look," Rose said sadly, "Raphael isn't the one who activated the seal," she refused to say anything else, afraid that her voice would fail her. She could feel a lump in the back of her throat, as the three men standing next to her gasped.

"That Orichalcos thingy is on Yugi's forehead!" Joey said, outraged. "But why? He knows that card is evil!" The duel then continued and the Pharaoh eventually shaved Raphael's life points down to 100, while he still had 600. He had a triumphant smirk on his face as he gloated to Raphael that there was no way he could win now.

"It looks like Yugi has this duel in the bag," Duke said.

"Yeah good moves, don't you think?" Tristan agreed. Rose and Joey stayed silent. "Guys? you there?"

"We're here," Joey said.

"But he isn't," Rose added quietly, inclining her head as she tried not to let her voice waver.

"He's been brainwashed by the seal," Joey said sadly. "He's sacrificing his monsters left and right and talking about power, that's not Yugi at all!" He threw his hands into the air, showing his frustration.

"The Orichalcos is messing with his head," Rose agreed, "And I have a gut feeling that although he has these extra powers that the Seal grants him, he may not end up on top..." As Rose had seen before, having power did not always mean you had the advantage.

Raphael laughed, "The Seal reveals all: this is you. And just as I suspected, you're evil Pharaoh!"

Rose then lost her temper, standing up to yell at Raphael. "The Seal doesn't reveal who a person is you creep!" She screamed at him, "It turns good people into power hungry freaks and poison's their minds!" She couldn't hold back the single tear that streamed down her face as her anger took over.

"Hey, hey," Joey pulled Rose back and tried to calm her down. "Easy, Rose," He said gently in her ear, holding onto her shoulders. "Yug let his anger take over and he ended up like that, don't let it happen to you, too."

Rose sighed and looked back at him with an apologetic look, "Sorry." She quickly wiped her eyes and Joey didn't let go of her shoulders, partly so she would stay clam and partly so he would. They all watched on in horror as Raphael summoned his most powerful monster and used it's special ability to turn all of Yami's monsters that he'd sacrificed against him. There was a shocking amount of monsters that delivered the final blow destroying the rest of his life points. The Pharaoh lost the duel.

"No!" Rose called out in horror.

"Yugi!" Joey called out desperately, looking at the defeated duellist with terror in his eyes.

"He lost..." Rose said, on the verge of tears again. "That means he loses his soul!" Joey had to grab Rose again and she struggled against him for a moment as tears fell down her face. She then noticed that there were tears falling onto her shoulder that did not belong to her. She looked up at Joey, who was holding her from behind, and instantly stopped struggling. He was crying also. The fear of losing his best friend was obviously too much for him. Rose turned back to look at the field and saw the Seal close in on the Pharaoh. She looked away as his cry echoed through the valley, but all Joey could do was stare. The Seal then disappeared, leaving their friend lying motionless on the ground.

"Get up Yug!" Joey called out desperately, "Please!" There was no sign from him though, and everybody slumped their shoulders, as the reality of the situation hit them.

A helicopter then appeared and Raphael grabbed the Pharaoh and climbed up the rope ladder as it carried him off.

"Hey you!" Joey let go of Rose to angrily call out to Raphael, "Take your hands off of him you creep!"

"Fine," Raphael replied, dropping him. Joey and Tristan tried to catch him, but the force knocked them off of their feet, and the three bodies were sprawled on the ground.

"Are you guys alright?" Duke asked. They got up, and Yami still lay lifeless on the ground.

"Can you hear us Yugi?" Tristan asked, kneeling over him. Rose and Joey stood back, unable to move.

"Come on, wake up!" Duke said.

Yami then opened his eyes, and everyone gasped. "He's awake!" Tristan proclaimed.

Joey let out a sigh of relief, "I knew you'd outsmart that big goon!" he said cheerfully. "So, how'd you do it, Yug? How'd you escape?"

Rose knew something wasn't right, and she could read it all over Yami's face. She then realised that Yugi's spirit was still gone, and her previous horror returned. Yami read her facial expression and turned away from her, guilt all over his face.

"Everything alright pal?" Joey asked.

"No Joey," Yami said, his voiced strained. "It's far from alright." He was holding back tears, his hands were balled into fists. "I didn't outsmart him."

"What do you mean?" Tristan asked. Yami shook his head and turned away from the rest of them.

"Don't you guys get it?" Rose said quietly, tears forming in her eyes again. "The Orichalcos never leaves without taking a soul, and the Pharaoh is still here. So that means..." she covered her mouth as her voice failed her, unable to finish the sentence.

"Yugi's gone," he said in despair, falling to his knees.

* * *

I don't even know what to say here. All the feels. God dammit Yami.

Anyway, i hope you liked the long chapter (well the last few have been quite long actually) and I'd love to hear what you think! seriously, i hope i haven't ruined this season for you :P cause its one of my favourites.

PharaohsThrone :)


	10. Chapter 34 - The Aftermath

**Chapter 34 - The Aftermath**

Rose, Joey, Tristan and Duke could only stand back and watch sadly as Yami cried out in despair, smashing his fists onto the ground. None of them had expected anything like this, and it had hit them hard and fast. Yugi was gone. Rose couldn't imagine how much guilt Yami must have been feeling, for it was by his own hand that this happened. He had activated the Seal, and that was what had sent Yugi away.

Yugi was such a delight to be around, too. Everybody in the group valued his simple presence, for he brought cheerfulness and light with him wherever he went. But now his soul had been taken away, and they were all shell shocked at that simple fact. Rose and Joey had lost it, both of them shedding tears as they watched Yami curse and scream at himself for being so selfish. Rose had flinched when Yami said it should have been him to suffer, for he smashed his fist on the ground with more force than she thought he could conjure, and it must have bruised his hand at the least.

Joey had pulled Rose into his arms again and buried his face in the back of her neck, unable to bear the thought of losing his best friend so suddenly. Rose had then patted his arms soothingly where they were wrapped around her waist. Joey was like a brother to her, and for his sake and for Yami's sake she was determined to get Yugi's soul back no matter what the cost. She managed to pull herself together, and she wiped away her tears, before untangling herself from Joey, who had managed to calm down in the past few minutes.

Rose carefully approached Yami as he sat on his hands and knees facing away from her, and she could see the small pool of tears that had formed on the ground in front of him. She couldn't imagine the guilt he must have been feeling, and she knew it would not disappear soon, but she had to do something. She kneeled in front of him, gently putting her hands on his shoulders as his head was dropped, facing the ground. He was trembling, and he didn't move upon noticing her presence, nor did he try to hide the look of utter despair on his face.

Rose wasn't quite sure what to say, so she said the first thing that came to mind. "I promise we'll get Yugi back," she said gently. He didn't look up at her, but she continued anyway, "We'll find this Dartz guy, kick his butt all the way back to Atlantis, and then we'll make him return every single soul the Orichalcos took..." Yami seemed to have stopped trembling, and it seemed as if he had paused in his place, listening to Rose's words, but not giving her any sign of acknowledgement. "Look at me," Rose lifted his chin up so that he would finally look at her, holding his face in her hands so that he couldn't look away. "Yugi will be okay," she said reassuringly. "We just have to find him, and bring him back." Yami's face softened, and he put his hand over hers where it rested on his cheek in a thankful gesture. Even though he hadn't said anything, she understood what he meant.

Rose smiled at him, dropping her hands to his shoulders again to give them a reassuring squeeze, "come on, let's get back to Bec and Tea, they're probably worried sick about you," she said, standing up. She saw an unspoken sentence in his eyes that probably said something like, _No, it's Yugi they're worried about_, but she ignored it, and held her hand out so she could help him up.

Joey, Duke and Tristan were amazed at how quickly she had calmed him down, but decided not to press the matter, for it was progress. It was silent as the gang then set off to head back to the Hawkins caravan. Duke, Tristan and Joey jumped in the car, leading as Rose got back on Mai's bike and Yami sat on Rebecca's horse, his eyes empty and lonely.

They were all completely silent on the trip back, the only sound being the engines in the car and motorbike and the sound of the horse's hooves on the ground as they moved along. Everyone was in a state of despair after losing their friend, but nobody hurt as much as Yami did. He had lost the closest person to him and it was entirely his fault. He never thought he could ever forgive himself for doing this to Yugi, and he wouldn't be surprised if Yugi didn't forgive him either. Rose travelled alongside Yami on the bike, as they slowly made their way back. His head was down, his shoulders slumped, and his bangs were hanging over his eyes, hiding any sign of emotion that he may have been feeling. Rose didn't need to see his eyes to know what he was feeling however, she was sure she had a fair idea, and it broke her heart to see him in such a mess.

He was probably incredibly lonely, too. For as long as he had existed in the 21st century, he had shared a body and mind with Yugi, it must be daunting being all by himself now, especially knowing he was the one that caused it.

They eventually arrived back at the caravan, and Tea and Rebecca came out to greet them, looking happy to see them all finally.

"Yugi, you're back!" Tea said cheerfully, running out of the caravan. "So I guess you won," she smiled as they approached.

"Of course he did!" Rebecca said with her usual high pitched squeak of happiness. "My Yugi always wins!" she ran up and hugged him, but he didn't return it, he simply stood there, staring at his feet, his face hidden in shadows.

"Huh?" Rebecca stepped back, confused as to his behaviour. This certainly wasn't like her Yugi at all.

"Is everything okay?" Tea asked, noticing the off mood that had returned with the gang. Rose took her helmet off with a sigh, and looked over to the three men in the car. The four of them stared at each other, trying to decide who would deliver the news.

"Not quite," Joey eventually said, avoiding their curious eyes. "We got a problem, guys..."

"What do you mean?" Tea asked. Yami continued to look at his feet, it was obvious that he was not going to say anything.

"Yugi didn't win," Duke spilled, still sitting in the car next to Tristan.

Tea and Rebecca both had confusion on their faces. "He's gone," Rose said sadly, getting off of her bike.

"What?" Tea said, not being able to believe them. "If he lost then those creeps would have taken his soul!" she said, her voice rising in pitch with her anxiety.

"So, what's your point?" Joey asked, crossing his arms.

"My point? If he's gone how could he be standing right-" she stopped mid sentence, here eyes wide, "...Behind me." That's when she realised, "Oh no..." she sat down as the weight of the situation hit her.

"Yugi, talk to me," Rebecca pleaded, "What's wrong? Why are you acting so strange?"

"Rebecca," Rose said softly, leaning against Duke's car. "That's not Yugi..."

"What do you mean?" she said, completely oblivious to everything they had just said.

"Rebecca," Yami said finally, "They took Yugi's soul. I know, it's my fault. I'm the one who unleashed the magic that took Yugi away," his voice was strained as he stared at the ground, his jaw locked tightly.

"You knew that card was evil and yet you still played it!" Rebecca yelled, pointing an accusing finger at him. "A good Pharaoh would never have done something like that to poor Yugi!" she cried, punching into his chest. "It's not fair! It should have been you!" she sobbed.

"Now hold on, Rebecca," Rose said, standing up straight again.

"No, she's right," Yami said, still staring at the ground. Rose knew it would take him a long time to get over this.

"What's done is done," Joey said, wanting to move on from the subject, but Yami continued.

"This whole thing is my fault, I let everyone down, especially Yugi. He warned me not to use the seal, but my rage took over. And he paid for my mistake..."

Joey became angered, "You gotta snap out of this!" He yelled, not wanting to hear any more.

"He's gone, and it's my fault," Yami continued.

Joey grabbed him by the neck of his shirt, "Get a grip, man!" he said, shaking the man violently.

"Joey, calm down," Tea said as Rebecca clung to her. Joey just pushed him back and he fell to the ground.

"Joey!" Rose scolded him, running over to help Yami, but he dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

"I'm fine," he said flatly, getting to his feet.

"If we're gonna save Yugi we've gotta move ahead, not look back," Joey said. "So pull yourself together! What we gotta do now, is find out who this Dartz guy is, and where he keeps all these souls."

"I've been suggesting we do that since day one, but nobody listens to me," Duke said sarcastically.

* * *

God this took forever, i was literally thinking about how to start this chapter all day. Including while i was sitting in a lecture and meant to be learning (oops). So you better love me! haha

Anyway, i'm not sure if i'll be able to get many (if any at all) chapters out before i move house, and as mentioned im not sure whats happening with the internet situation so bare with me folks, i will be back and updating as soon as possible!

PharaohsThrone :)


	11. Chapter 35 - A Lonely Soul

**Chapter 35 - A Lonely Soul**

Once everybody had calmed down, the gang sat inside the Hawkins caravan deciding what to do next. Joey was ranting on about destroying the great beast that was in the sky previously, while Tea argued they needed help from the outside in order to do that. Rebecca then cut in, saying that they wouldn't be able to convince anybody to help them if they had no evidence.

"In case you forgot, those jerks burned down my grandpas' laboratory and all of his research," Rebecca explained. "Without no hard evidence theres no way anybody's gonna believe our story."

"But we have proof," Tea argued, "It's all down in those underwater ruins."

Rebecca then pulled out her laptop, turning it towards them, "Whatever was there won't be of any help to us now."

"The ruins are gone!" Rose said, staring at the screen. She then sat back in her seat with a sigh, "They're one step ahead of us."

"Don't give up so easily," Professor Hawkins said, emerging from his room, "I can help you find the information you need. You're right about looking to the ruins for answers."

Yami then spoke for the first time since they entered the caravan, "So, did you discover anything more about these thugs?" he asked.

"Well I can't be sure, but based on the inscriptions I found, theres a good chance these fellows are descendants of Atlantis," Arthur explained.

"But if you're hunch is right, why would these people want to destroy whats left of their ancestors city?" Duke asked. "That doesn't make any sense."

"They must be trying to hide something," Rose said, crossing her arms.

"Indeed," Arthur said, "Those ruins revealed the history of Atlantis, and its not a pleasant one. They must want to keep it a secret."

"How much of this history do you know?" Yami asked him.

Arthur explained how thousands of years ago Atlantis was the most advanced civilisation the world had ever known, and that it was a paradise, a land of total tranquility where everyone lived in peace. Until one day, when a dreadful creature was called forth from the depths of the earth by an evil king. He explained how the power hungry king drew his power from a stone, and the stone drew its power from another world.

Joey then jumped up, "It's that rock they have around their necks isn't it?" he asked. Arthur shook his head, saying that he wasn't sure as that was all that he could translate.

"There was probably something written on those ruins about how to destroy that monster before it destroys us," Duke said, clicking his fingers. "That might be what they were hiding."

"So we have to find another way to figure out how to get rid of it for good," Rose said.

"Well the ruins may have been destroyed," Arthur explained, "But there are copies of the inscriptions at a museum in florida where I was doing my underwater research."

"Perfect," Tea said, a glint of hope now in her eyes.

"So we just have to get to the museum and translate the rest," Rose said, sounding more cheerful than before.

"That's great all, but just one question," Duke cut in, "how do we get there?"

A moment ago Tristan had been grinning, but upon hearing that he slumped back down in his seat. "We're doomed," he said.

They came up with the idea of calling Kaiba for help, though half the group thought that it would never work. Well, more like the whole group thought that it wouldn't work.

"Come on Joey, he's not going to answer," Rose said as he dialled the number for Kaiba corp, "Didn't you hear his massive blow up back at Industrial Illusions? He doesn't want to have any part in this."

"It's worth a try anyway," Joey said as he turned on the web cam.

"No way," Tea said after a moment, "he really took your call?"

"What? He did?" Joey said, looking at the screen. "Kaiba? Is that you in there?" He said, leaning in towards the webcam.

_"It works better when you step back from the webcam,"_ Mokuba said.

"Oh, right," Joey sat back again, revealing the rest of the gang sitting around him.

_"Make it fast Wheeler,"_ Kaiba said in his usual cold tone.

"We found some clues about those biker punks," Joey explained.

_"What kind of clues?"_

"I'm not giving them up that easily Kaiba, but if you give us a lift to Florida I'll fill you in on the way," he grinned.

"So what's it gonna be?" Tristan said, leaning over Joey's shoulder.

"Time is running out!" Joey said, "Those creeps defeated Yugi and took his soul!"

Everyone groaned, "You idiot Joey," Rose muttered. She loved the guy, but he could be a bit thick headed at times.

Tristan pulled him back into a headlock, "Way to keep a secret lame brain!"

_"Yugi's soul?"_ Mokuba said, _"What's he mean?"_

Joey pulled out of Tristan's headlock, "Please disregard my last statement folks."

"Whatever, Kaiba doesn't believe in all that magic stuff anyway," Tristan said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, it's all '_some kind of hocus pokus mind trick_." Duke said, imitating Kaiba's voice.

Joey laughed, "hey that sounds just like him."

Rose whacked them both on the back of their heads, "He can hear you, you idiots!" Joey just gave her his usual cheeky grin.

_"YUGI LOST?!"_ Kaiba boomed. Everyone suddenly shut up, staring at the screen. _"Yugi gave his Duel Monsters championship crown to some nobody?! No one deserves that title but me!"_

"Hold on Kaiba," Yami said.

_"I don't want to hear another word,"_ Kaiba said,_ "You're a disgrace to the game Yugi,"_ and he hung up. Everyone stared at the blank screen, surprised at Kaiba's outburst. _He really needs to get over the Duel Monsters Championship_, Rose thought with a shake of her head.

"Now what?" Yami muttered.

"No ride?" Joey said, standing up. That stinks!"

"That jerk," Tristan said, "how are we supposed to get down to Florida now?"

"Well I say the professor stays here and we hop the next flight," Joey said, turning to the gang.

Duke volunteered to stay and keep an eye on the professor, and the rest of the gang organised a train to catch to the airport. They just hoped that they would be able to get to the museum on time.

...

"How long is this train ride anyway?" Tea asked as they sat at the station.

"Too long," Joey said, kicking the ground with his foot as they waited to board.

Tea sighed, "Any chance you wanna go instead of me Duke?" she said with a laugh.

"No can do Tea, I gotta stick with the professor in case those biker punks come back," he gave them all a thumbs up, and the doors to the train opened.

"Well, all aboard," Joey said, standing up. They said goodbye to Duke and hoped on the train. Yami hadn't said anything since they left professor Hawkins, and Tea was getting worried. Joey and Tristan took two seats in the middle of the carriage and Tea sat next to Yami across from them. Rose sat in front of Tea laughing at the boys eating their food like pigs. She looked behind her to where Tea was sitting. Yami had barely said a word all day, apart from when he spoke to the professor, and it appeared that Tea was trying to get him to talk. She'd fake sneezed, talked about the view and the beaches in Florida, but he just stared at his feet. _Poor guy_, Rose thought, _he's lost his closest friend because of his mistake and everyone wants him to get over it already. _

"If it were me, I'd be curled up at the back of the carriage blocking everyone out," Rose muttered.

"What was that?" Joey asked her, a mouth full of food. Rose chuckled, before saying that she was just talking to herself.

"Come on you gotta cheer up," Tea said from behind her. Rose tuned her ears into the one sided conversation going on in the row behind her. "I promise we'll get Yugi back. But in the mean time you can't just sit around moping. It might feel better to talk about it. We can even come up with a plan."

Yami simply sighed and stood up, "Sorry Tea," was all he said, and he headed off to the end of the carriage, disappearing through the door.

Tea sighed, looking back at the door he had disappeared though. "Poor guy."

"I think he needs to be alone for a while," Tristan said, poking his head out to look down the rows of seats.  
"He's already alone," Rose mumbled, to nobody in particular.

"Yeah, isn't that the whole problem?" Joey said. "He's crushed."

"Hey Rose," Tea said, leaning forwards to talk through the seats. "Maybe you should to talk to him."

"Yeah, you both have that ancient egyptian thingy going," Joey said, shoving a handful of chips into his mouth.

"Huh?" Rose said, not quite understanding him through his mouth full of food.

"I think Joey means that you probably know him better than we do," Tea explained.

_I did_, Rose thought, _If only I could remember_. "Alright, I'll give it a shot," she said, standing up. She walked down to the end of the carriage and could see Yami through the door. He was standing between the two carriages, staring out the window with a look of despair on his face. He balled his hands into fists and punched the wall in front of him with so much force he almost broke through it. He then mumbled something before letting himself slide down the wall so he was sitting in the corner, his head buried in his hands. Rose opened the door and quietly walked in, but decided not to say anything. Instead, she sat beside him silently. He didn't need to be bombarded with lame encouraging speeches. She decided that if he wanted to talk, he would. All she could hear as she sat there was the rumble of the train as it rattled along its tracks, and the slight hum of voices in the carriages either side of them.

For Yami, Rose's presence triggered a thought,_ It's probably better that Rose doesn't remember anything from our past_, he thought miserably. _If she knew of all the terrible things I did as Pharaoh she wouldn't still be here, and I need her help to get Yugi back, just like I need everyone else's help. How can they still side with me after what I've done? I should be the one captured by the Orichalcos, not Yugi._ Yami went to rest his head on his arm, but realised he had his duel disk on still, and gave up. With a sympathetic sigh Rose unclipped the device and pulled it off of his arm, placing it on the floor beside her. He simply put his head in his hands. So they both sat there, completely silent, shut off from the rest of the world. Rose could hear Yami's steady breathing as she watched him, patiently waiting until he was ready to speak.

After a few minutes of silence, he lifted his head up. "How can you still be here by my side?" he asked, staring out the window. His voice sounded so empty and filled with dread, nothing like he normally was. Rose couldn't see any of the life and passion that the ancient Pharaoh normally portrayed. But having Yugi with him was probably a contributing factor to his forever upbeat attitude. Now however, he was alone and empty.

Rose was surprised by his question, "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You heard Raphael," Yami said, looking down at the ground with dread, "He said I was an evil pharaoh, the reason for the destruction of Egypt."

"But you don't know that," Rose argued.

"And neither do you," he said, still not looking at her. "We both have no memory of the past at all." He then sighed, "I'm afraid that Raphael was right, and that I'm turning evil again, Rose. I let my rage take over and I sent Yugi away. Who knows, I could do the same to the rest of you..." Rose noticed him ball his hand into a fist.

"Pharaoh," Rose said, grabbing his arm gently. He relaxed his hand and finally turned to look at her. "You can't believe a single word that Raphael said to you. He may have not used the card in your duel, but the Orichalcos controls him, and we can't trust anybody associated with it. I don't believe you were an evil Pharaoh. You fought _against_ the evil that tried to destroy Egypt, you weren't the cause of it."

He sighed, "Even if that is true," he said, turning back to the window, "I still fear the darkness inside my heart since I played that card. Without Yugi's light to guide me, I don't know what will happen."

"The world isn't split up into good and evil," Rose said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Everybody has both light and darkness in their hearts, but their character is judged on which side they decide to act on. You _are_ a good person, I know that. You were also a great Pharaoh. You just have to believe that your light can overshadow the darkness just like it did all those years ago."

He looked back at her, "You really mean that?" he asked.

"Every word," Rose said with a reassuring smile.

He sighed, and Rose could see the ghost of a smile trying to show itself, "Thank you." Rose gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and then looked down, noticing the deck of cards sitting in Yami's belt. She reached down and pulled them out to make a point. "My deck?" Yami asked as she held them in front of him, "What do you wish to do with that?"

"This is the deck that you and Yugi built together, right?" Rose said. Yami nodded. "Your heart is in this deck, and so is his. So even though he may not be with you right now, you can still defeat this evil together. Just don't forget everything you taught me about the heart of the cards."

Yami smiled, "How can I forget my own advice." He took his deck back from Rose and sorted through the cards until he found Queen's Knight. "I also have a part of you in my deck to help me," he said, holding the card up with a smile.

"You bet, so there's nothing stopping us. I promise that together we'll defeat this beast and save Yugi, he'll be back with us in no time." Rose gave Yami an encouraging smile, and he nodded.

"You know," he said after a moment, "I'm really curious to know what you were like back in Egypt."

Rose laughed, "Probably the same as I am now but...more...egyptian."

Yami chuckled, "Yes, well, I'm still not sure where your place was in the palace, if you were a part of the palace at all. It's quite frustrating not knowing," he noted.

"Tell me about it," Rose said. "Though I'm pretty sure I would have been a part of the palace, I mean, how else would I be so close to you? The Pharaoh wouldn't be friends with an average towns person, would they?" she asked. "And even if that was true, the question then is how. It doesn't seem very plausible."

"Indeed," Yami said. "Though we did see that vision of you kneeling before the previous Pharaoh, after you had found the Millennium Heart. Perhaps your item was your connection to me," he suggested.

"Could be," Rose said. "But for now we have to focus on getting Yugi back, we'll sort out the past later," she said. "But just remember, you're not alone. I'll always be right here by your side, as well as the rest of the gang. We can defeat this Dartz guy and stop him from resurrecting that beast," she said reassuringly.

"Right," Yami nodded, the hint of a smile on the edge of his lips.

That's when Rose noticed that the hum of voices either side of them had stopped. She stood up and peered through the door curiously, before a shocked expression appeared on her face. "Um...we have a problem..."

* * *

Hello everyone! I'm in my new house and have internet once again! It was a painful 6 days, but I've managed to write HEAPS in that time, so sit back as the updates roll in ;)

I hope this makes up for my absence :D

Always happy to hear what you think :)

PharaohsThrone


	12. Chapter 36 - A Terror Of A Train Ride

**Chapter 36 - A Terror Of A Train Ride**

"Hm?" Yami stood up next to Rose, sounding confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Rose opened the door, to reveal the gang standing in the middle of the carriage looking completely dumbfounded, "This train is completely empty!" she exclaimed.

"Alright, I am officially freaked out," Tea said, looking around with a worried expression.

Joey noticed Rose and Yami at the other end of the carriage, "Hey is there anyone in the next carriage?" he asked.

Rose turned around and opened the door to the connecting car, "Nope," she called back, "Not a soul."

"Do you have to say soul?" Tristan asked, not looking very happy about the empty train carriage.

"It's a complete ghost town in here," Joey said, as Rose and Yami walked down the carriage to join them.

Tea had an uneasy feeling in her stomach, "Don't say ghost, either."

"I bet those slime balls are behind this," Joey said, balling his hands into fists, "and i bet they're on board."

"Well what are we standing here for, lets get them!" Tristan said, a determined look on his face. Yami nodded and he turned and headed for the other carriage as the others followed suit. After Yami, Rose and Tea had crossed over to the other carriage however, the train cars started separating.

"Joey, Tristan!" Tea called back to them, but the carriages were already too far apart for them to make it across the gap.

"What do we do now?" Tristan called out.

"Get help!" Yami said to them, as the back half of the train slowed down even more. Soon Joey and Tristan were two small blurs in the distance.

"Come on," Tea said, grabbing Rose's hand to pull her along. "We have to find a way to stop this train." They ran through the carriage, and Tea tried the call button to talk to the conductor, but there was no reply.

"I don't like the sound of that," Rose said worriedly. "Who's driving the train?" Yami then ran ahead to the front carriage and out the door. "Pharaoh, what are you doing?" she called out, running after him.

"I've got to get in there so I can stop this train!" he called back, looking towards the drivers car.

"But how?" Tea asked. The section of the train controlled by the driver was clearly cut off from the rest of the train as a safety precaution. It looked about impossible to reach it while the train was moving at such a high speed.

"I have an idea," Yami said. "There may be an emergency hatch on the roof," he jumped over the railing and started to climb the ladder to the roof of the train.

"Be careful," Rose said as he reached the top. That's when Rose and Tea heard a familiar laugh.

"Is that...?" Rose asked in shock, before climbing up the ladder behind Yami.

"Rose! Wait up!" Tea said, following her.

"Weevil Underwood," Yami said, standing across from him on top of the train, "Are you behind this? You better start explaining yourself!"

"Weevil?" Rose said as she reached the top, "What do you want, worm boy?" she said with a glare as she climbed onto the top of the train.

"What do you think I want? A rematch with the king of games," Weevil said, laughing maniacally.

"Are you nuts?" Tea said, now climbing onto the top of the train behind Rose. Rose was standing up behind Yami, but Tea pulled her down so that she was kneeling next to her, afraid that she would lose her balance.

"I'm just in the mood for a friendly duel," Weevil laughed. He explained how he wanted to use his new secret weapon, and he pulled out an Orichalcos stone, waving it in front of them with a wicked grin.

"I knew we couldn't trust him," Rose said, narrowing her eyes at the bug enthusiast.

Yami turned around, seeing Rose and Tea behind him, "You two should go back down, it's too dangerous up here," he urged.

Rose simply stood up, ignoring his warning as she looked straight at Weevil, "You do realise that if you go through with this you could lose your soul, right?"

"That's the whole point! I want to make him pay!" Weevil announced, pointing an accusing finger at Yami.

"Let him learn the hard way," Tea said, pulling Rose back down again. Wind gusted around them from all sides as the train continued along its tracks at high speed, but neither duelist backed down from the challenge as they activated their duel disks. "Here we go," Tea said, "Duelling on top of a train, what's next the aeroplane?"

Weevil began boasting about how he had improved since their last duel as he drew his cards. He then looked up at Yami with a devilish grin. "Guess what card I drew?" he said, before bursting out into laughter.

"Weevil don't be a fool," Yami warned.

"What seems to be the problem?" Weevil laughed, holding out the Seal of Orichalcos so that they could all see it. "You've played this card before, haven't you? If I'm not mistaken this is what you used to lock little Yugi away!"

"Don't listen to him," Rose said, trying to clam Yami down, who was fuming. "He's just trying to mess with you."

"I know," Yami said, "I won't allow my anger to take over again." Weevil activated his card, and the Seal of Orichalcos appeared on the field, pushing Rose and Tea off of the carriage.

"No!" Yami called out, "Rose! Tea!" He watched as Rose managed to grab onto the top of the ladder, while Tea fell back onto the carriage behind.

"Tea!" Rose called out, hanging on the ladder, "Are you okay?"

Tea had a tight grip on the edge of the next carriage, "I'm fine," she called back, forcing a smile.

"Please stay safe, both of you," Yami said, before turning back to Weevil with a determined look upon his face. The duel continued, and Weevil was off to a good start. He infected Yami's only monster on the field, rendering it useless. He then managed to summon his insect queen, which became the strongest monster in play.

"My insect army is slowly infecting the playing field, just a few more turns and you're bug bait!" Weevil laughed.

"We'll see," Yami said, drawing his card.

"Yeah people like you never win!" Tea called out.

"What's this? More comments from the peanut gallery? Tell me, what is a person like me?" Weevil asked, a smirk plastered on his face.

"You're a greedy, power hungry worm," Yami said, narrowing his eyes as the smaller duellist.

"What does that make you?" Weevil retorted, "Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you the one who wanted power? So much that you sold out your best friend just for a taste of it?"

"Watch it bug boy!" Rose threatened, clenching her fist.

"I'm just telling you what I witnessed first hand during your last duel, thats all. You were determined to win at all costs, weren't you? So you activated the Seal of Orichalcos, even though you knew you were endangering the life of someone close to you! Now that's what I call power hungry and greedy. But now the seal and all its powers belong to me," Weevil laughed.

"You're not scaring anyone," Tea said.

"If you think you can win this duel by playing your little head games then you're sorely mistaken Weevil," Yami said.

"What you call little head games, I call opening you up to the truth. And whether you realise it or not it's causing you to doubt yourself!" He pointed at Yami's trembling hand, who stopped himself and sent a glare in Weevil's direction. "Not that I blame you, I'd be shaking in fear also, if i were the one about to lose his soul!"

"You can win this, Pharaoh," Rose called out reassuringly.

"Yeah, squish this bug freak!" Tea cheered. The duel continued, and each monster that Yami summoned was turned into a bug thanks to Weevil's trap card, giving his queen more attack points. Eventually the only thing left on Yami's side of the field, was Weevil's Cocoon of Evolution, and it was about to hatch. Soon, Poison Butterfly emerged, with a whopping 2700 attack points. Only problem was, it took away 500 of Yami's life points for every turn it stayed on the field. Weevil was in a fit of laughter by this point.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you," Yami said confidently, looking at the card he just drew with a smirk.

"Huh?" Weevil said, "What did you draw?" Yami held up the card in his hand.

"Timaeus!" Rose pumped her fist in the air.

"He can still turn this duel around," Tea said confidently. Yami summoned his dragon, and Weevil was freaking out. He tried to merge Timaeus with Poison Butterfly, but the dragon wasn't happy with this, and destroyed itself before the transformation was complete.

"My dragon!" Yami called out, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Oh no, he's abandoned me."

Weevil burst into a fit of laughter, "The darkness of the Orichalcos is still within you! Last time you duelled you turned your back on all your monsters, and now Timaeus is returning the favour!"

"Don't listen to a word he says," Rose called out.

"He's right," Yami sighed, dropping his hands to his sides. "I end my turn."  
"Music to my ears!" Weevil said, drawing his card. Weevil managed to reduce Yami's life points down to 500.

"Oh no," Tea said, "As soon as the Pharaoh's turn ends Poison Butterfly will take the rest of his life points!"

Yami summoned Breaker the Magical warrior to the field, and used it's special ability to destroy Weevil's insect barrier. This meant that he could use Weevil's Poison Butterfly against him.

"Go Poison Butterfly! Attack Armoured Centipede!" Yami announced. He then attacked with Breaker, reducing Weevil's life points down to 2200.

"Nice try," Weevil laughed, "But it looks like your turn just came to an end, which means Poison Butterfly takes the rest of your life points!"

"Too bad I'm not done yet," Yami said with a smirk.

"Huh?" Weevil stepped back, unsure of what his plan was.

"Now quiet down so I can complete my turn," Yami said, glaring at him. He activated a magic card called Bezerker Soul. First he had to throw out his entire hand, then he could draw until he drew a magic or trap card. Meanwhile, with every monster he drew he could attack with a monster on his side of the field. Yami drew Queen's Knight, so Breaker attacked Weevil, leaving him with 700 life points. Then Yami drew Gazelle.

"Looks like you're out of luck," he said, "Breaker! Attack again!" Weevil's life points hit zero. Even though Yami had already won, he continued to draw cards, continuously attacking Weevil again and again. Rose jumped up onto the carriage as he continued drawing cards.

"Pharaoh, you've already won!" she called out to him. He drew another card and she grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop him from attacking again.

"Let me go!" He yelled.

"You can stop now," she said gently, "It's over, you've already won the duel."

"The seal of Orichalcos is gone," Tea said, now climbing up onto the carriage behind Rose. Yami looked at Rose and Tea and realised what he was doing, before dropping his hand.

"I'm sorry," he said, before looking over at Weevil as the Orichalcos took away his soul. Yami then ran over to him, "Tell me where Yugi is!" he demanded, grabbed the boy's shoulders, but he didn't show any sign of life.

"Pharaoh, he's gone," Tea said, "The Orichalcos took him away." They all stared down at the lifeless boy, when the train suddenly made a terrible screeching noise.

"What's happening?" Rose asked frantically, as they felt the train start to come off of its tracks.

"The train! We're going to fall straight down that cliff!" Yami called out in panic. "Quick! Grab my hand!" He called out to Rose. She grabbed Yami's hand and just managed to reach Tea before the train plummeted over the cliff.

* * *

dun dun DUUUUN

though we all know what happens so it's not really a cliff hanger :P hey, get it? cliff?

...I'll go back to updating now...

Please let me know what you think! :D

PharaohsThrone :)


	13. Chapter 37 - Self Destruction

**Chapter 37 - Self Destruction**

Yami was suddenly awoken, and he sat up, bewildered. "Hold on," he said to himself, "Was that all a dream?" He ran a hand through his hair, he was sitting in a bed in some sort of tent, and Rose and Tea were sleeping in identical beds beside him. "Rose, Tea, wake up," he said. They stirred at the sound of his voice, but after a few tries, they both opened their eyes.

"What the..?" Rose said, looking around as she rubbed her eyes.

"Where are we?" Tea asked, confused. That's when a dog ran in and jumped on Tea, licking her face. She giggled, patting the dog as it continued to show its affection.

"Sky, what are you doing?" a girl said, walking into the tent. "That's no way to treat our guests." The dog jumped off of Tea's bed, and went to sit by the girl's side.

Yami blinked at the girl. "Who are you?" he asked.

"You can call me Kris," the girl said with a sweet smile. "And you've already met Sky," she said with a laugh as she indicated to the dog, "She's the one who found you," Kris patted the dog, "She was sniffing around for food and ended up sniffing out you guys instead," she laughed.

Once they had all fully woken up, Kris took them out to where they were found, and an old man was picking up Yami's Duel Monster cards that had been scattered on the ground.

"I see your strength is back," the man said as they approached.

"Yes, thank you," Yami said, nodding at him graciously.

"Pleased to hear it, you three had me worried. The name is Ironheart by the way, and I believe this belongs to you," he held out Yami's deck, with Timaeus sitting on the top. "Pardon me for being intrusive, but I noticed that you possess the legendary Eye of Timaeus."

Yami looked at the card for a moment, before separating it from the rest of his deck, "Take it," he said, "I'm not deserving of its power." He held the card out for Ironheart to take.

"I'll hold it until you're ready," the man said, accepting the card.

Tea asked if they had found Weevil, but Ironheart said that there was not another soul around the train.

"Exactly," Rose muttered.

"I must say young man," Ironheart continued, "You seem to possess a wisdom that reaches far beyond your years. I've encountered many people in my travels, but there's something about you I've never seen before. Same with your friend here," he indicated Rose. "There's something about that item on your chest that intrigues me," he said to her.

"Oh, it's the same for me," Rose said with a laugh.

"I also sense that you hold a great deal of loneliness in your heart," he said, turning back to Yami.

"That's because I recently lost a very close friend of mine," Yami said, looking at his feet. "And now I'm on a journey to find his soul."

"What will you do if you find him?" Ironheart asked.

"I'll apologise," Yami said, looking at his feet. "For betraying his trust, and abandoning him."

"Hmm, I might just be able to help," Ironheart said, "Follow me." He turned and started walking, and the three of them looked at each other for a moment, before falling into step behind him.

...

They walked for a while, around dangerous cliffs while Ironheart explained that they were going to a place where the souls dwell.

"You see, my people believe that souls exist all around us, and just beyond this mountain is a sacred valley, where drifting souls are said to gather as they wander along."

"And you think my friend may be there?" Yami asked.

"Perhaps," Ironheart said. He explained that there were evil spirits there as well, and that finding the soul he seeks would be easy, leaving with his own would be another thing. They approached the valley, and Ironheart explained that Yami must continue on his own, pointing out the sacred circle of which he must enter. Yami took a deep breath and then headed down into the valley, determined to find Yugi. As he walked, voices called out to him.

"Who's there?" he demanded, "Show yourself!"

"What's happening?" Tea asked, as her and Rose stood back and watched with Ironheart and Kris.

"Your friend is attracting lost souls that seek revenge," Ironheart said. Yami walked through all the evil souls and reached the centre of the circle.

"Yugi?" he called out. There was no answer, and he was about to give up when he noticed something. In front of him, a million little balls of light were coming together to form a shape.

A person.

Yugi.

"Pharaoh? Is that really you?" the boy said, blinking.

Yami's eyes widened in relief, "Yugi!" He reached for him, but just passed straight through the boy.

"You came all this way just to see me?" Yugi asked, turning around.

"Of course," Yami said, relieved to be able to see his friend again. "I wanted to say how sorry I am." The look on his face showed nothing but regret, and he hoped that Yugi would be able to see how much he wanted to apologise.

"I'm sorry too," Yugi said, looking at the ground, "I wish this whole thing never happened."

"It's my fault," Yami said, turning away. "I surrendered to my inner darkness, I allowed my anger to take over and you paid the price. Now that you're gone the darkness is starting to grow, without your light to keep me pure, I'm becoming evil, Yugi. I'm beginning to believe that what Raphael said about me is true. Perhaps I was a wicked Pharaoh." He then remembered his conversation with Rose, "Although Rose thinks otherwise, I still can't be sure. What if I am the one responsible for the destruction of Egypt. If i'm capable of such horrific behaviour then it's my soul that should be locked away..."

"Well what good is that now?" Yugi said, turning around as his voice changed. There was a tone to his voice that Yami had never heard before, and it caught him by surprise. "I'm the one who's been locked away forever, not you!"

Yami stepped back, shocked at Yugi's approach, "I'm sorry..."

"Well the last thing I need is your pity, Pharaoh!" Yugi spat, "If you're really evil then there's only one thing to do..."

Yami couldn't believe what he was hearing, "What are you saying?" He watched as a duel disk appeared on Yugi's arm and the boy started walking away from him. What was he doing?

"You said it yourself, didn't you? Your spirit should be locked away with mine, and I'm going to do it," he turned around to face Yami, a harsh and determined look upon his face.

"Wait, you misunderstood me," Yami said in alarm, stepping forwards.

"Oh, so now you're taking back what you said? Make up your mind! You don't deserve to be a part of this world!" he spat, narrowing his eyes at Yami. The Pharaoh felt a pang in his chest from Yugi's harsh words, this was not the boy that had sacrificed himself to save him.

"Yugi..." Yami said, his eyes wide with disbelief. Rose could see the hurt all over his face. _What is Yugi doing?!_ she thought.

"It's about time you started taking some responsibility for what you've done. There's only one thing left to do and you know it. You need to be a man for once and face me in a duel!"

"No, please..." Yami begged him.

"Too late!" Yugi announced, pointing an accusing finger at him. "It's time for you to pay! If you're really sorry then you'll do this." Yami instantly activated his duel disk. "Alright, I'll start, by summoning one monster face down on the field," Yugi said. "Now let's see what you've got, unless you're too scared."

"Very well..." Yami said, "If i must." He drew and summoned Gazelle to the field, attacking Yugi's face down card.

"Mine's a Gazelle, too," Yugi said as it was destroyed.

"We're holding the same cards aren't we?" Yami realised.

"Let's find out," Yugi replied. "I'll summon another card face down."

"Do these look familiar?" Yami said, holding up two cards, "Polymerisation and Berfomet. Now I can fuse my two monsters together to form Chymerra, the Flying Mythical Beast." He then played Alpha the magnet warrior and attacked Yugi's face down monster. Once Yugi's Sangan was destroyed, he attacked the boy's life points directly with Chymerra.

"When you destroyed my Sangan, you activated its special ability," Yugi said, "Letting me move a monster from my deck to my hand."

"Yes, good move," Yami nodded.

"I don't need your support," Yugi spat, picking his card. "I place this face down, then I play this: Card Destruction."

"But why?" Yami asked, confused.

"So I can start over, and our hands will be different," Yugi said, discarding his hand. "Disappointed? Now you can't cheat anymore."

"Why are you acting like this?" Yami demanded.

"What on earth is Yugi doing?" Tea said, looking worried. "What's happened to him?" She looked quite upset over seeing her friend acting like this, but Rose knew there had to be more going on than just what they could see. "He can't fight Yugi!"

"I'm just a reflection of you!" Yugi said, pointing across the field to Yami..

"That's it!" Rose said. "Tea, the Pharaoh has to fight back!" Tea questioned her, and she continued to explain. "Yugi is representing the anger and hatred that's inside the Pharaoh, the same anger that overcame him in his duel with Raphael. So if he defeats Yugi, he'll be able to overcome that darkness." Tea nodded, understanding, but she still looked worried.

"Wait a minute," Rose then said, a thought hitting her. "That means Yugi has-"

Rose and Tea snapped back to watching the duel s they heard Yami call out,"Yugi wait!" he said, his eyes wide with horror, "Are you holding the card I think you are?"

"It sounds like you're starting to catch on, aren't you _your highness_," Yugi said. "This duel is a chance for you to look at yourself from the outside, and there's only one card that can make that happen: the seal of Orichalcos..."

Tea gasped, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth, as Rose muttered, "I knew it."

"Yugi no!" Yami called out, but Yugi was already putting the card on his duel disk. The Seal encircled the field, and when Yugi lifted his head up the Seal was on his forehead and he had an unpleasant glint to his eyes.

"Now it's payback time, for taking my soul!" Yugi yelled.

"This is a mistake," Yami said to him, pleading him to be reasonable.

_I know you can do this, Pharaoh,_ Rose thought, _you have to fight._

"Come on, just replace your hand already, I played card destruction!" Yugi said impatiently. Yami discarded his hand and drew 5 new cards. "And now for my next move," Yugi said, "I activate monster reborn, and I'll use it to bring back my dark magician girl!" He then summoned his Celtic Guardian. "Pharaoh, you know what happens next," Yugi smirked.

"Yugi stop this!" Yami pleaded, unable to bear the sigh before him.

"Now the oricalcose serves _my_ monsters!" Yugi said, as the Seal increased their power by 500 points. He used his Celtic Guardian to destroy Yami's magnet warrior, and then Dark Magician Girl relinquished Chymerra. Yami used Chymerra's special ability to summon Berfomet in defence mode and then summoned Big Shield Gardner in defence as well.

"That's all?" Yugi said, drawing his card. "I play Queen's Knight in attack mode!"

"Yugi," Yami grabbed his attention upon noticing the card. "That's the card Rose gave us, remember? She told us that we could all defeat the Orichalcos together!"

"If you don't mind I'm not done with my turn yet," Yugi said, ignoring Yami's words. "And to boost my fire power, I'll activate magic formula!" He used his magic card to raise Dark Magician Girl's attack points by 500. Yugi then used his Queen's Knight to attack Berfomet and then Dark Magician Girl destroyed Yami's Big Shield Gardner. Then finally, with Celtic Guardian, Yugi attacked Yami's life points directly, leaving him with his last 1200 life points.

"It won't be long now, Pharaoh," Yugi said, a smirk on his lips.

"Yugi, don't do this," Yami continued pleading, though Yugi wasn't budging, and he was beginning to lose hope.

"It hurts, doesn't it? And it only gets worse. Soon you'll be locked away forever, where you belong!"

Yami winced upon hearing Yugi's harsh words as he drew from his deck, placing one card face down and summoning Giant Soldier of Stone in defence mode. He then activated his Swords of Revealing Light to stop Yugi from attacking. _This gives me three turns to talk some sense into Yugi,_ he thought.

"Your swords mean nothing!" Yugi said, "I have a card that can blast right through them! You should have known that, you've played this card before." Yugi smirked as he sacrificed his Guardian to summon Catapult Turtle.

"This is what I did last time," Yami said, his eyes widening.

"Exactly," Yugi said, "So it's time for you to experience the consequences of your own evil. Now you'll never duel again, it's all over!" Yugi sacrificed his Dark Magician Girl and launched her on the catapult straight to Yami's life points. He now only had 200 left. "One more attack and you'll become a prisoner of the oricalcose just like me," Yugi said, getting ready to sacrifice Queen's Knight.

Tea grabbed onto Rose's jacket, "I can't watch!"

Rose however couldn't tear her eyes away from the duel, "Come on Pharaoh..."

"Yugi please!" Yami begged, "Don't sacrifice that card, don't you remember what Rose said to us?"

"It's just a card," Yugi spat. "Now prepare to lose your soul!"

"No!" Yami said in horror, "I can't lose. If I do, then I can't set you free! And two worlds will crumble..."

"So what?" Yugi said, "You're evil, remember? Last time, you didn't care who suffered!" Yugi demanded Queen's Knight to go onto the catapult.

"Yugi please!" Yami called out to him, "Don't go through with this!"

"Too late," Yugi said, narrowing his eyes. "Attack!" The Catapult began to launch.

"Yugi no!" Yami cried out, "I won't let you do this!" So he activated his trap card, Divine Wind.

"He did it!" Rose said, nudging Tea's arm. The other girl looked over, just to see Yugi get blown off of his feet.

"What have I done?!" Yami said, "Yugi!" he ran over to his friend, who was lying on the ground motionless. Yami reached him, and lifted him up, "Speak to me, please."

Yugi then opened his eyes, "You passed the test, pal," he said with a weak smile.

"What are you talking about?" Yami asked, his eyes burning with the threat of tears. "Did you plan this all along?"

"It was the only way, by defeating me you were able to defeat the darkness that was inside your heart. It wasn't easy but you did what was best for me and for mankind. You acted like a true hero," Yugi placed a weak hand on Yami's arm with a reassuring smile.

"But now what?" Yami asked, staring down at him.

"Don't give up this fight, remember: I'm always with you." And with that, he disappeared from Yami's arms. He stayed where he was for a moment, staring at the spot where Yugi was only seconds ago. He then balled his hands into fists and stood up again.

"I'll save you Yugi!" he called out, "No matter what it takes..."

* * *

God, the puzzlefeels are unbearable even in a non puzzeshipping story, that's how canon it is! haha anyway, hope you're liking the story so far, but the heartache doesn't end there, and theres one more twist thats been added to this arc that you'll find out soon, so sit tight and prepare for feels :D

Please let me know what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	14. Chapter 38 - Race Of The Orichalcos

**Chapter 38 - Race Of The Orichalcos**

Yami stood down in the circle of spirits, as Rose and Tea watched from up on the cliffs with relief. He had defeated Yugi, and that hopefully meant he had defeated his inner darkness. This had only made him more determined to get Yugi back. Unfortunately, the battle wasn't over yet however. The earth suddenly started shaking and section was pulled apart, and to Yami's surprise an Orichalcos soldier emerged, same as those who fought in the great battle over 10,000 years ago. The soldier challenged Yami to a duel, but he seemed to have no choice as the Seal of Orichalcos instantly came down over the field. With a determined look upon his face, Yami prepared himself for a second battle. As the duel began it seemed that the soldier's only monster could not be destroyed, as each time Yami defeated the beast, it came back with more attack points than before. This invincible monster tore away at Yami's life points, until he was just one attack away from defeat.

"There's only one card that can save him," Ironheart said, pulling it out of his pocket.

"The card he gave you?" Kris asked. He nodded, before running down into the valley, with Kris following after him. Rose and Tea watched as it appeared that the Oricalcose soldier did not want them to get to the Pharaoh. Bolts of lightning suddenly rained down from the sky, striking down Ironheart. Kris managed to reach him as he collapsed on the ground, and he handed her the card. With a determined nod, Kris continued the quest to deliver the card to Yami. She only just made it to the edge of the field before she was struck as well, unfortunately. Yami just managed to take the card from her before she disappeared.

"Kris!" Tea called out in alarm, "And Ironheart! They're both gone!"

"But now the Pharaoh has Timaeus," Rose assured.

The duel continued and the pharaoh summoned the legendary dragon, merging him with his dark magician girl. With one attack, he was able to destroy the undefeated monster, defeating the oricalcose soldier in the process.

...

After all of the drama of the past hour or so, Yami, Rose and Tea were relieved when they found their way back to the train tracks, having climbed back up the cliffs that they fell off.

"We're back where we left off," Tea said, looking down the tracks.

"Now all we have to do is follow these," Rose said with a hopeful smile.

"And if all goes well they should lead us straight to Tristan and Joey," Yami said, nodding at her.

"Assuming they haven't wandered off that is," Rose added. Knowing those two, they could have gone off in the completely wrong direction. They set off down the tracks to find Tristan and Joey, hoping that they would soon be reunited with their friends.

"Hey Rose," Tea said, grabbing her attention, "That thing you did way back when we were surrounded by that biker gang, what was that?" Rose thought for a moment, trying to figure out what she meant.

"I think she means when the Millennium Heart created that protective shield," Yami mentioned.

"Oh, that!" Rose said, "Well I'm not entirely sure, but it happened back in that abandoned warehouse where Joey got hurt, and I just knew that it would happen again when they tried to attack us," she shrugged.

"Does that mean you can control it?" Yami asked curiously.

"Well, no." Rose scratched the back of her head, "I was kind of just hoping with all my might that it would do that," Rose gave them a hopeful grin.

"Wait a minute," Tea said, stepping in front of Rose, causing the girl to stop dead in her tracks. "You mean to say that you had no idea if the Heart would actually save you?"

"Maybe...?" Rose said with a nervous laugh. Tea suddenly looked serious.

"You could have gotten yourself seriously hurt!" she said, raising her voice. "Did you not think about that?"

"But I didn't get hurt," Rose added, "and that's what matters. I trusted my gut feeling and it pulled through," she grinned again.

Tea sighed, turning to continue walking again. "You're damn lucky, you know that?"

Rose just laughed, "Well despite the fact that you're yelling at me, I take it as a compliment cause it means you care!" She grabbed Tea and hugged her sideways. Tea just laughed and rolled her eyes.

"We all care," Yami said, before chuckling as Tea tried to pull Rose off of her.

"Hold on," Tea said, her tone changing as she looked up at the sky.

Rose let go of her and followed her gaze. "...Uh oh," she said. "That can't be good."

"Those weird lights are back," Tea said, sounding worried. "They creep me out," she admitted.

"I fear it's the great beast," Yami said, "The same thing happened when it emerged the first time."

"That's not good," Rose said, turning to the two of them. "We're running out of time..." That's when Yami's deck started glowing brightly.

"What's this?" he said, looking down at it. He then looked up, "Rose, Tea, up there!" They all looked up and saw the three legendary dragons guiding a plane that was about to crash.

"Whoa," Tea said as the plane reached the ground, "Those dragons just saved that aeroplane!"

"Now there's something you don't see every day," a familiar voice said from nearby. The three of them turned to see who it was.

"Joey!" Rose called out in relief, smiling over at them.

"And Tristan!" Tea said cheerfully.

"Hey guys," Joey said with a grin, "Hows it going?" Their reunion was cut short by their curiosity about the plane, so they walked down to where it had crashed to see if the passengers were alright.

"Hey, that's one of Kaiba's planes," Tea said with surprise as they approached it.

"Hey, you're right," Tristan said, gazing up at the KC symbol on the wing of the plane. Right on queue, Kaiba opened the hatch and jumped down, carrying a man in his arms.

Upon seeing the five of them, Kaiba gave his usual greeting, "Oh great," he said. "If it isn't the dweeb patrol." He looked at all of them with his scrutinising eyes, before adding in his head, plus Rose.

"Don't you have any other creative names for us?" Rose asked, indicating it was all he ever said. "Apart from nerd herd and geek squad," she added with a sarcastic smirk. Seto tried to hide it but she noticed the hint of an amused smirk on his face, before it disappeared and his usual demeanour returned. Joey simply glared daggers at him as usual.

"What happened up there?" Tea asked, pointing to the plane. Seto explained how he had duelled against Allister on top of the plane, after having come across him before when he was disguised as Pegasus.

"Don't you geeks have someone else to annoy?" Seto asked when he finished.

"Kaiba we can't do this without you and you know it," Yami said to him, "So please, help us to stop this evil." Seto simply made a smart remark before they were approached by Roland. He said he had some terrible news, and Kaiba simply told him to explain on the way back to his headquarters. So much to Seto's dismay, he allowed the gang to jump in the KC helicopter as they did not have any other means of transportation. Once they were on their way, Roland explained how Dartz had taken over Kaiba Corp. Seto certainly wasn't happy about that, but Roland and the other KC men in the helicopter said they would stay by Kaiba's side until he had won his company back.

"Now we need to get to the museum and decipher those ruins," Yami mentioned.

"My research team is already there," Seto pointed out, "And my security force will handle any unexpected guests." The pilot then announced that Kaiba had an emergency message, and he opened up his laptop, ready to receive the images of the ruins. While they were uploading, Dartz's men attacked Kaiba's research team, but luckily the images had already been transferred over. He sent them off to Rebecca for Professor Hawkins to decipher, and the gang were relieved that Seto had decided to help them, though it was mainly so he could win his company back, it was still something. However, the professor said that unless the images were cleared up they would not be able to decipher them. Kaiba announced that they should go to KC headquarters and use his high speed computer system. It was a good idea, apart from the fact that it was being run by Dartz currently. Despite protests from Joey and Tea, they decided that it was the only way, even if it was a risky move, they had to give it a try.

...

Once they reached their destination, they met up with Duke, Rebecca and Arthur near KC headquarters, and Duke explained how they had run into Mai and Valon. Soon, Kaiba was getting impatient and announced that whoever was coming with him to Kaiba corp better hurry up, and he started walking. Yami followed after him as Tristan and Tea said they would go find the police. As Kaiba and Yami headed down into an underground entrance to Kaiba Corp, Rebecca managed to hack into the KC computer system, as Joey, Duke, Rose and Arthur watched over her shoulder.

"Wow, you really are a child genius," Rose said with a laugh.

"Good thing Kaiba let me tag along on his field trip," Rebecca said smugly, as she managed to save Kaiba and Yami from being trapped inside. The two men managed to get to the main computer to analyse the images, and Professor Hawkins was able to decipher their meaning. Unfortunately though, Rebecca's computer lost the link to Kaiba's system, but not before they found out who Dartz was, and that he was the president of a large financial company called Paradius.

"Where's their headquarters?" Joey demanded, scrunching his hand into a fist. Rebecca managed to find it, and Joey jumped up, determined to take him down. "Here I come you creeps!" he called out.

"Joey wait," Rose urged.

"Get back here!" Duke called out, but he didn't listen and ran off in the direction of Paradius.

"Well this is just great," Rose sighed, before getting up and running after him. She couldn't let Joey go alone, no matter how bad his idea was. "Hold up Joey!" Rose called after him, "Wait for me!" She then saw Tristan and Tea in the distance, but Joey ran straight past them.

"Hey wait, you're going the wrong way!" Tristan called out to him as he bolted past.

Rose reached them and Tea stopped her, "Wait, you'll run straight into the zombie patrol!" she warned.

"The zombie what?" Rose asked, watching as Joey kept running .

"Tea go warn the others, I'm going after Joey," Tristan said, before running off after his friend.

"Hey wait!" Rose said, leaving Tea to catch up to Tristan, "You don't know where he's going!" she called out.

"What do you mean?" Tristan called back to her.

"I mean, he's going straight to Dartz! We know where his company's headquarters are!"

"What?!" Tristan stopped to let her catch up, "Is he nuts?!"

"It appears so," Rose said, now breathless from all of the running.

"Joey come back!" Tristan said, bolting off to try and catch up to him, "I'm wearing the wrong shoes for this," he muttered.

"Joey stop!" Rose called out. As if on queue, Joey skidded to a stop. Not because Rose told him to however, but because something had blocked their path.

"What's that?" Joey asked, looking up at the Oricalcose soldier that was towering above them.

"It's bad news," Rose warned, staring up at it with wide eyes.

"Maybe we should start running again," Tristan said as it turned towards them.

"Good idea," Joey said, before the three of them took off in the other direction. They heard a screeching of tyres and turned to see two kids on motorbikes skid to a stop in front of them.

"Haven't you learned to look both ways?" one of them spat, before they both rode past the trio.

"Wait! You're going the wrong way!" Tristan called out to them, but it was too late, for the two bikers were already heading straight for the Oricalcose soldier. They wailed as they ran into the monster, their bikes skidding aside. It took them no time however, to run in the opposite direction. The soldier took one look at the bikes before continuing to pursue Joey, Rose and Tristan. They stopped in surprise however, when the soldier disappeared, having ceased chasing them.

"Hey where'd he go?" Tristan asked looking around. A bright headlight then blinded them, and they saw Valon sitting on his bike behind where the soldier was moments ago, a smug smirk on his face.

"Hey, I know you!" Joey said, pointing at him. Valon turned and sped off, and Joey ran after him, picking up one of the abandoned bikes on his way.

"Joey wait!" Rose called after him, "What are you doing?" Joey jumped on the bike and sped off after Valon.

"Oh for goodness sake," Rose groaned, picking up the other one.

"What am i supposed to do?" Tristan asked.

Rose jumped on the bike, "Go get the others so we can help Joey."

"But how will we know where to find you guys?"

"Follow the Oricalcose!" and with that, Rose sped off, trying to catch up to Joey and Valon. they had gained a lot of distance already, and Rose was only barely keeping up. Valon was trying to either test Joey or lose him, and although Rose had managed to follow them around the twists and turns that Valon took, she soon could not continue when they reached the river. Valon made the jump easy, and Joey only just managed to clear it, while Rose grinded her teeth together watching him. With a groan, Rose skidded to a stop at the edge of the river. She watched as the two men sped off on the other side; as much as she wanted to help Joey and stop him from being captured by the Oricalcose, she didn't have the guts to jump a river on a bike as crappy as this. With a sigh, she turned and followed alongside the river, hoping she could cross another way and still find them before it was too late.

* * *

I had lots of fun writing the next few chapters xD i just have to edit them all and i can post them, so get ready! :D

Wow i sound so lame in my authors notes -.- i apologise, I'm cool, i swear! :P

anyway, let me know what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	15. Chapter 39 - A Feminine Face-Off

**Chapter 39 - A Feminine Face-Off**

"Where are those two already?" Rebecca asked impatiently as her, Duke and Mokuba waited next to the caravan. They were sure that Yami and Seto were finished inside Kaiba Corp, so they didn't know why the men were taking so long.

"There they are!" Mokuba called out, spotting his brother and Yami walking towards them. "We were worried about you two for a second there," he said, running up to Kaiba with his usual bright smile.

"We're fine," Seto said, "and now that we know who we're after, its time to crash their little party."

"Well we better act fast cause Joey ran off to find these Paradius guys," Rebecca pointed out.

Yami looked between the three of them, "Wait, then where's Rose?" he asked, looking around.

"She went after him," Duke answered.

Yami sighed, "Let's just hope she can talk some sense into him then," he said. "But we still need to get there before he does."

"He better not screw this up for me," Kaiba grunted, crossing his arms.

They then heard Tea called out from behidn them, and saw her running towards them, "We've got bigger problems guys," she said, stopping to catch her breath, "Those same monsters we saw in the desert are roaming the city!"

...

Rose skidded to a stop, facing towards the person she had hoped wouldn't be here. Rose had been looking for Joey, but instead, she had found one of her least favourite people.  
"Mai," she said with distaste, taking her helmet off. "What do you want?" Although she had met Mai before all of this Oricalcose business, she hadn't known her that well. But what Rose did know, was that Mai meant a lot to Joey, but she turned her back on him and may as well have slapped him in the face at the same time. Rose also wasn't in favour of Mai's endeavour to take out Joey, and she would be willing to do whatever it took to stop that from happening.

"You know what I want," Mai said coldly, "I'm looking for Wheeler, so tell me where he is, because we have some unfinished business."

"If you want Joey," Rose said, getting off of the bike and standing between Mai and the road. "You'll have to go through me first." She stood her ground, narrowing her eyes at the woman.

Mai thought for a moment, before getting off of her bike as well. "Alright kid," she smirked, activating her duel disk, "You're on."

...

After losing Joey and Rose, Tristan had managed to find Yami and Tea, who had split off from the rest of the group.

"Tristan," Tea said in surprise as he approached them, "I thought you were with Joey and Rose."

Tristan huffed, "Yeah well I was, but that was until it turned into a motorbike chase."

"What do you mean?" Yami asked him.

"That creep Valon showed up," Tristan said, "So Joey and Rose chased after him on bikes and I lost them."

"Well we've got to find them before it's too late," Yami said, balling a hand into a fist. "Tristan, do you know where they were heading?"

"No clue," he said with a shake of his head.

Tea let out an exasperated sigh, "Well how do we know where to find them?" she asked.

"Rose told me to look for the Orichalcos symbol," he said, knowing that sooner or later one would definitely show up.

"Well I'm not going to wait for that to happen, let's go," Yami said, before running off in the direction Tristan had come. Him and Tea followed, hoping that they would be able to find Joey and Rose before it was too late. Tristan then silently hoped that Mai wasn't roaming around the city as well, or they'd have more trouble.

...

"Alright," Mai said with a confident grin as she drew her cards, "I'll go first, this duel should be over in no time anyway."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Rose said confidently, looking at her hand. _Not a bad start_, she thought.

Mai ignored her comment, "To start things off I think I'll summon my Harpie Lady in attack mode!" [ATK 1300/DEF 1400] "And I'll place this face down," she said, smiling as she put the card in her duel disk. "Your move, hun."

Rose narrowed her eyes at the woman, "Alright," she said, drawing her first card. "I'll summon my Ancient Elf in attack mode." [ATK 1450/DEF 1200] _She has a card face down_, Rose thought, _It's probably a trap, but I can't just wait around for her to attack me, I guess I'll just have to find out what it is_. "Ancient Elf, attack her Harpie Lady!"

Mai let out a high pitched laugh, "What a rookie mistake. I activate my Arrow Nail magic card! This gives my Harpie an extra 300 attack points."

"Uh oh," Rose said, _Well, it was worth a shot._

"Now Harpie Lady, destroy her Elf!" Mai declared, pointing at Rose's monster. Rose's attack had backfired, and her Elf was sent packing.

"Oh well," Rose said nonchalantly, placing the card in her grave yard, "I guess it's back to your turn."

"Like I said kid, this duel will be over in no time," Mai said, drawing from her deck. "Well look what I drew," she said sweetly, holding up the card to show Rose.

"The Seal of Orichalcos!" Rose said, bracing herself. _I should have known_, she thought.

"That's right hun," Mai smirked, "Your fate is sealed!" She activated the card and Rose looked up as the Seal descended from the sky onto the field, trapping them both inside it's walls.

"Now we're both locked in the Seal," Mai said, sounding angrier than she did before, "and only one of us will escape..."

"And that person is going to be me!" Rose said with determination, "I'm not going to let you hurt Joey," she balled her hand into a fist.

"Oh come on," Mai said with boredom, "Why do you care about that loser so much?" she then turned angry, "he's just a stupid brat who I need to eliminate!"

Rose noted how Mai's mood changed so quickly, probably an added effect of the Seal. "I beg to differ," she said. "That's why I have to win this duel, I'm not going to let you get the chance."

"Oh really now," Mai said with a smirk. "You're duelling to save some worthless dummy."

"He's my friend, Mai," Rose seethed. "And friends look out for each other. Once upon a time I know he was yours as well, but after all you've been through how do you repay him? By trying to take his soul away!" Rose pointed a determined finger at the woman, "So I'm here to stop you!"

_Or lose my soul trying._

...

Yami, Tristan and Tea were still searching for Joey and Rose, when they stopped dead in their tracks.

"Oh man, Joey!" Tristan said, sounding worried. They all looked up into the sky where a familiar green light was illuminating from, and sure enough, the Seal of Orichalcos was descending from the sky.

"It's the Seal," Yami said with wide eyes, staring upwards. The sky had grown dark since they had left Kaiba Corp, so the large green circle lit up the darkness with his green tinted illumination.

"Just like Rose said," Tea added, turning to look at the two men.

"We all know what that means," Yami said, lowering his eyes as the Seal disappeared behind the tall buildings.

"Yeah, either Joey or Valon is gonna lose their soul," Tristan pointed out with a solum nod of his head.

"Then let's go, Joey needs us!" Tea said, the two men nodded, before they started running ahead, towards where they saw the Seal appear.

_Hang in there, Joey,_ Yami thought as they ran. He just hoped that Rose's support would be enough until they got there.

...

Meanwhile, Rose was nowhere near Joey, and she was completely clueless to the fact that he was in the same situation as her. Trapped inside the Seal of Orichalcos, facing off against another duelist in order to save someone they cared about.

The duel between Rose and Mai was a painfully close one, both of them now had less than 1000 life points left, and this battle had been neck and neck from the beginning.

Rose painfully lifted herself up off the ground with a grunt after an attack from Mai, but she wasn't done yet, not by a long shot. "You may have destroyed my Dark Magician Girl, but I still have my Chaos Command Magician, who has enough attack points to destroy Harpie's pet dragon next turn," Rose said, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"Then go ahead and try," Mai said with a smirk.

"Very well," Rose drew her card. "This duel is almost done," she said. And she was glad for that, too. Mai's attacks had started to take their toll on her, she was feeling weak and dizzy, and she already had a few grazes on her arms from hitting the hard bitumen a few too many times. But, thanks to her duelling experience she knew she had the strength to overcome the pain she was feeling.

She looked up at Mai, raising her voice to sound strong and confident once more. "Alright, one of us is going to lose in the next few turns, and it sure as hell isn't going to be me," she smirked at the other girl. "I'll start by activating card of sanctity, so we each draw until we have 6 cards."

"Yes, I know how the card works," Mai spat, drawing her cards. An evil grin appeared on her face, "Oh you are going to regret that now after what I've drawn," she laughed.

"Oh no," Rose said, thinking back to the duel she had with Joey. "You didn't draw phoenix or sparrow formation did you?"

Mai just smirked, "Next turn you're done for, honey."

Rose looked at the cards she had drawn, and a grin appeared on her face, "Not if I can help it, I activate Lightforce Sword!" Mai looked shocked as the sword slashed through one of the cards in her hand, eliminating it from the game for the next four turns. "Not Phoenix formation!" she screeched, staring at the card with a look of shock. She turned back to Rose, glaring at her, "No matter, I'll get it back."

"Not soon enough," Rose said with a grin. "Now I'll summon my Dancing Elf in attack mode." [ATK 300/DEF 200].

Mai laughed, "Cute monster you got there, are you not thinking straight from all the butt whooping you've suffered from in this duel?"

"Actually, quite the opposite," Rose said, still sporting a wide grin. "Because now I'm going to sacrifice her to summon Magician's Valkeria!" Rose grinned as her most treasured monster appeared on the field. "And I'll give her a power boost with my Mage Power magic card." _Mai seemed awfully confident about me attacking her dragon_, Rose thought, _so that face down she has must be a trap, and if I know Mai's deck like I think I do... _

"Go on and attack if you dare," Mai smirked.

"Oh I will," Rose pulled another card out of her hand, "But first I'll get rid of your trap, with Mystical Space Typhoon!" A great wind blew across the field, revealing Mai's Mirror Wall trap. "I knew it," Rose said with a grin. "Even though I haven't seen you duel too many times, I've heard about your deck, so I was able to predict your face down easily." Mai just glared at her.

Rose used Valkeria and Chaos Command Magician to destroy Harpie's Pet Dragon and one of Mai's Cyber Harpies, so that only one Cyber Harpie was left on Mai's side of the field, she finished her turn and Mai drew her card, before smiling sweetly but deadly.

"Sorry but Harpie's pet dragon just doesn't want to say goodbye just yet," Mai said, before using Monster Reborn to bring him back. "And now I'll activate Elegant Egotist! Which gives me an extra 2 Harpies." Mai now had 4 monsters. _No matter how many times I knock her down, she just keeps coming back_, Rose thought with annoyance, _I only have one more chance to defeat her, and I'll need to draw the right card next turn or I'm done for._

"Now I'll just place one card face down and that will do for this turn," Mai said with a smirk.

Rose narrowed her eyes, _none of her monsters are strong enough to withstand an attack, but she left them in attack mode. If I can summon a strong enough monster, I can do enough damage to her life points for me to win the duel. I'm pretty lucky actually, if Mai had summoned a strong enough monster to defeat my Chaos Command Magician, I could have already lost. But seems I haven't yet, I have to take my chance now, I need to draw the right card, and now!_ Rose drew, and she didn't even need to look at the card to know what she had drawn.

"Yes!" She jumped up and down in excitement, before regaining her composure. "Sorry Mai, but this duel is over!" Rose grinned, "Prepare to meet the ultimate spell caster! By sacrificing my two magicians I can now summon the Sorcerer of Dark Magic!" [ATK 3200/DEF 2800] Rose was beaming from ear to ear as the incredible magician appeared on the field, brandishing his staff with a smug smirk on his face.

Mai stepped back in horror, her eyes wide as she stared at the monster, "The sorcerer of what?!"

"You heard me," Rose smirked triumphantly. "One attack from him and this duel will be over! And your face down card is useless, because he can negate the activation of all trap cards!" Rose was filled with energy as the adrenaline she felt from duelling coursed through her, and her eyes were gleaming with the shine of victory. "Now my sorcerer, end this duel!" Rose announced, and her monster launched it's attack on Mai's Harpie.

Mai suddenly smirked, "Sorry hun, but my face down wasn't a trap, and it's going to be the face of your demise!" she laughed.

"Huh?" Rose said, dropping her arm that she had pointed at Mai's monster.

"I activate Harpie lady Sparrow formation!" Mai announced, a large grin plastered on her face.

"What?!" Rose stepped back, shock clear on her face, "But-I used my Lightforce Sword to get rid of that card!" she protested.

"Wrong! You did that to Phoenix formation, and I happened to draw both at the same time, so now my Harpie's can join forces and destroy up to four of your monsters!" Mai's smirk didn't falter as her eyes gleamed with a tinge of crimson, and it made Rose's skin crawl.

"No!" Rose panicked, as she tried to think of how she could stop the attack. _That means my Sorcerers attack points will be taken from my life points and I'll lose the duel! I have to think fast or I'll be the one who needs saving!_

* * *

I don't know why, but I really like this part in the story (from a writers perspective anyway) because we have the whole gang completely split up, and nobody knows where anybody else is! It's like a wild goose chase, which is why I was looking forward to writing these few chapters :D

So we have Joey pursuing Valon, who by this point is in the middle of dueling him with the Armour deck, in order to save Mai.

Then we have Rose, in the middle of dueling Mai in order to save Joey.

Then there's Yami, Tea and Tristan who are trying to find Joey and Rose, unaware that they have been split up, thinking that Rose is on the sidelines cheering for Joey.

At the same time, Seto and Mokuba are on their own mission, and then there's also Rebecca, Duke and Professor Hawkins waiting back at the caravan for everyone to return. But the thing is, who's going to return?

Please let me know what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	16. Chapter 40 - A Growing Collection

**Chapter 40 - A Growing Collection**

Yami, Tristan and Tea continued to run through the dark streets towards where they had seen the Orichalcos symbol. It was silent as they ran, tension hanging in the air as they feared for their friend. They knew Joey was a tough and talented duelist, but from what they'd heard about Valon, it was only natural for them to worry. Tristan had also mentioned that he'd run into Mai after losing Joey and Rose, so that meant that she was after him also. So even if Joey did defeat Valon, the challenge wouldn't be over then. They just hoped that they would be able to reach him before Mai did.

Yami suddenly felt something in his chest. What was it? He wasn't sure, but it felt like something was calling out to him. It felt like...

"The Millennium Heart!" he called out in surprise, stopping.

"What is it, Pharaoh?" Tea asked.

"Rose's heart, I can feel it..." he looked down at the Millennium Puzzle that had started glowing, "Joey must be in trouble!" He suddenly started running again at full speed, determined to reach his friend. "We're close!" he called back as they ran through a narrow gap between two buildings. That's when they heard someone cry out nearby, and everyone's eyes widened.

"That doesn't sound like Joey!" Tea exclaimed, worry clear in her voice. They saw the green illumination of the Orichalcos just ahead of them, and they broke into the clearing, before stopping dead in their tracks.

Before them, Rose and Mai were standing facing each other, surrounded by the Seal of Oricalcose. What made Yami's stomach drop however, was that Rose's life points had just hit zero.

"Rose!" Tea called out in alarm, before covering her mouth with her hand in shock.

Rose was struggling to stay on her feet, having just been hit by a devastating attack, and she turned, noticing their arrival. A look of guilty despair suddenly appeared on her face as her chest rose and fell rapidly, her shoulders slumped. Her hair had fallen into her eyes, but Yami could still see the self hatred that filled them as she looked over at him.

"I'm so sorry," she breathed. Yami almost couldn't hear her from where he was standing, only 10 metres away. "I didn't want Mai to get to Joey...but I failed." Her body trembled as she tried to stay on her feet, and she didn't bother to hide the damage that duel had done to her, she was weak and drained. The adrenaline she had felt only moments ago had been sucked out of her, leaving her to feel the pain she'd been holding off the whole time.

Yami couldn't believe what he was seeing, this was the last thing he had expected, and he knew what happened next. He couldn't make himself move though, his legs were glued in their place, his eyes fixed on her. Never before had he seen that look in her eyes; they were so empty yet so filled with guilt and despair. He was speechless, and he couldn't bare the thought of losing another friend.

Yami was pulled out of his trance and back to reality when Rose let out a piercing cry, the Orichalcos closing in around her.

"No! Rose!" Yami cried out to her. Finally able to pull himself forwards, he ran towards her desperately, but by the time he reached her, she was already gone. The Orichalcos had disappeared, and her empty shell of a body fell towards the ground. Yami just managed to catch her before she hit the hard bitumen, sinking to his knees in order to break her fall. He stared down at his friend, who he'd known back when he was Pharaoh, over 5000 years ago. If only he remembered. She had been the only person who had managed to cheer him up after he lost Yugi, and now she was gone as well.

"Rose..." he breathed, looking down at her limp and lifeless body, "Not you too..." His hands tightened around her, as he fought off tears, his anger towards Dartz growing by the second. That man was going to pay dearly for taking away his friends.

Tristan and Tea had made their way over and were standing behind Yami, barely being able to comprehend what had just happened.

"I can't believe it..." Tristan managed to say as Yami held Rose in his arms.

"She's...gone..." Tea said, holding back tears. Yami placed Rose on the ground gently, and moved to pick up her Duel Monsters cards that were scattered everywhere. He looked to her duel disk, and saw the card that was still sitting on it.

"The Sorcerer Of Dark Magic..." he murmured, picking it up.

"That's the card that Rose used to win her duel back when we met her," Tea said quietly, one of her arms across her body.

They couldn't see Yami's face, but by the time he had collected her cards he had managed to compose himself again. He stood up and faced them, holding Rose's deck firmly in his hand. By this point they had all forgotten that Mai was even there, until they heard her start up her motorbike. They looked up just as she was about to ride off.

"Wheeler's next!" she spat, before speeding off.

Yami clenched his teeth, watching the woman as she disappeared in the distance. "This madness has to stop!" he bellowed, "Come on, we must find Joey!" The other two nodded, and Tristan lifted Rose onto his back, before they set off to find Joey.

...

Rose regained consciousness when she heard voices swirling around her, as if she was surrounded by scores of people.

"Look, here's another one," she just managed to hear someone say. What are they talking about? she thought, her head feeling as heavy as a brick. That's when she remembered what happened.

_"I activate Harpie lady Sparrow formation!" Mai declared, a large grin plastered on her face._

_"What?" Rose said, shock clear on her face, "But, I used my Lightforce Sword to get rid of that card!"_

_"Wrong! You did that to Phoenix formation, so now my Harpie's can join forces and destroy up to four of your monsters!" _

_"No!" Rose called out in horror. _

_"Say goodbye to your soul!" Mai laughed as her Harpie's striked Rose with enough force to destroy 4 times the amount of monsters that were on Rose's side of the field. Rose cried out as the Harpies attacked and her life points hit zero, but she just managed to stay on her feet through the attack, having close to no energy left. If she was going down, she would not do it on her knees. _

_"I can't believe it..." she whispered, looking down at her duel disk that still had The Sorcerer of Dark Magic on it,"I...I lost..."_

_"Therefore you lose your soul!" Mai laughed. That's when Rose heard someone call out from behind her. She turned to see Yami, Tea and Tristan standing there, shock plastered on their faces. No, she thought, they can't see me like this. _

_"I'm so sorry," she said, looking towards Yami. She had promised him that they would save Yugi together, and now in trying to save Joey, she had broken that promise. "I didn't want Mai to get to Joey...but I failed." She looked down in despair, her body trembling after Mai's attack as she tried to stay on her feet. Then the Seal closed in on her, and she cried out as it drained her soul. She could only just hear Yami call_ _out before she felt herself being pulled away from her earthly body, to be locked away in the Orichalcos._

She had lost her soul, Rose realised with despair. But if so, where was she? Her head was pounding, but apart from that she felt fine. She didn't feel so weak and drained as she did before however. What was going on?

That's when she heard someone gasp nearby. "Oh no..." they said, "Rose!" I know that voice... She thought with a shocking realisation.

She opened her eyes, and stared up at the person leaning over her, "Yugi?" she said in disbelief. "Is that really you?" She sat up, blinking rapidly as if he were an illusion.

"Yeah, it's me," he said with a half smile.

"Yugi!" Rose exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the boy with glee. "It's so good to see you again!"

Yugi laughed for a moment, but it didn't each his eyes. "I'd say it's good to see you, but that wouldn't be entirely true..." Rose sighed in response, letting go of the boy as she realised he was right. "How did you get here?" Yugi asked.

Rose avoided his eyes, "Mai was after Joey, so I tried to stop her by challenging her to a duel before she could do the same to him but...I lost." Rose fiddled with the sleeve of her jacket, feeling extremely stupid for her decision. "Hold on," she lifted her head up to look around, "Where exactly is 'here'?"

Yugi held a hand out, and Rose took it so he could pull her up onto her feet. "This is where all the souls go once they've been captured by the Orichalcos." Rose looked around, no wonder she had heard so many voices before, there were hundreds of people here! Maybe even thousands. 'Here' however, appeared to be a vast white space that seemed to never end. Well, she couldn't see any walls anywhere, just people. Lots and lots of people. What scared her was the attire that some of them had, too. She started to think that Dartz may have been collecting souls for quite a long time.

"So, you're all just waiting to be swallowed by that great beast?" Rose asked, turning in her spot to look at all the people.

"That's all we can do," Yugi sighed, "Unless the Pharaoh can find a way to free everyone before that happens."

Rose turned back to Yugi, "He was really torn up when he lost you," she murmured. "But I promised that I would help him save you, and now I've just gone and made matters worse!" She balled her hands into fists, angry at herself for being so stupid.

"Rose it's not your fault," Yugi said, grabbing her wrist so she would relax her hand. "You were worried about Joey, I would have done the same thing." He looked up at her as she glared at nothing, and she finally turned her head to look at him.

"But you would have won," Rose said miserably, sitting back down. "Come on Yugi, I'm no duellist, not compared to you and Joey and Mai," she brought her knees up to her chest as the regret she felt sank in. She then spoke under her breath, "I guess that tournament meant nothing..."

Yugi wasn't quite sure what she had said, though he thought he heard the word tournament, but he ignored it, thinking it was unimportant. "That's not true," he said, sitting beside her, "I've seen you duel, I've even duelled with you, you have great skills."

Rose just sighed, still looking at the ground. "Sorry Yug, I'm just really annoyed at myself for making things even harder for the Pharaoh," she admitted.

"He'll be just fine," Yugi said reassuringly, "Him, Joey and Kaiba will destroy that beast and set us all free, I know it," he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and she turned to look at him with a trying smile.

"I sure hope so," Rose said. She looked around at the sea of bodies surrounding them, and noticed someone sitting down about ten metres away. "Hey, isn't that Valon?" she asked Yugi, pointing over at the man.

"One of those biker guys?" he asked, looking over at the man, "Yeah, it looks like it."

Rose's face lit up, "That must mean Joey defeated him!" But just as soon as her mood had lifted, she remembered her original worry, "Oh wait, but Mai is still after him..."

"He'll be fine," Yugi said, "Trust me, Joey is a great duellist, and he almost beat Mai last time they duelled, didn't he?"

"True," Rose said, "I just hope he comes out on top this time."

...

As Yami, Tristan and Tea made their way through the streets towards where Mai had disappeared, they were growing tired. It had been a good 20 minutes since they saw her speed off, and they were running out of time.

"Where are you Joey?" Tristan called out. When there was no answer he sighed, and then grunted as he tried to shift Rose's weight on his back. It probably would have been easier to carry her if she were conscious, but the weight on his back just reminded him of how they were one friend down once again.

"Why don't you let me carry her for a while?" Yami asked, noticing Tristan's struggle. Tristan handed her to Yami and they continued to look for their friend. As they continued walking, Yami noticed his Timaeus card glowing from where it sat in his belt, and then it died out. He stopped, as a sinking feeling made itself known in his stomach. "Oh no..."

"What's wrong?" Tea asked as her and Tristan stopped as well, "Is it Joey?"

"I'm afraid so..." he said. They all looked up and saw Timaeus appear on top of one of the buildings, looking as if it was calling out to Hermos.

"Joey!" Tristan called out, running ahead with determination.

"Wait up Trsitan!" Tea called out as her and Yami followed. They ran until they came across a gap in the buildings surrounded by a fence, and all stopped in their tracks. There, sitting against the fence, was Joey.

...

"No, it can't be!" Rose ran over to the newest soul that had been added to Dartz's collection, with Yugi quickly following behind. "Joey!"

Their friend groaned as he regained consciousness, before slowly opening his eyes. "Heh?" he said, blinking as he gazed up at the two people kneeling next to him. Only a second later, he noticed that one of them was Yugi. He jumped up and seized the little guy in a massive bro hug, a cheesy grin plastered on his face. "Yugi! How glad am I to see that spiky little head of yours!" He laughed characteristically.

"Joey...can't...breathe!" Yugi gasped. Joey let him go, and his grin suddenly faded.

"Wait a minute, I just lost my soul!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "That's why you're here isn't it?" he said to Yugi.

"Mhmm," the other boy nodded solemnly. That's when Joey finally noticed Rose, and he almost jumped ten feet in the air.

"Rose!" he exclaimed in horror, "What are you doing here?!"

She shrugged, looking down at her feet. "I lost a duel to Mai."

His eyes widened, "What were you duelling Mai for?!" he yelled. Rose stepped back, surprised at how angry he sounded.

"Joey calm down," Yugi said, stepping between them and pushing against the man's chest. "She was trying to stop Mai from getting to you."

"How can I-wait, what?" Joey stopped when he realised what Yugi had just said. He then turned to Rose, a questioning look in his eyes.

Rose shrugged, "I knew Mai was after your soul and I didn't want her to get the chance..." she looked at her feet.

"Aw, Rose," Joey whined, his tone lightening, his gaze now soft. "You didn't need to do that." He shook his head, placing his hands on her shoulders as he looked down at her. "Now you've lost your soul, I never wanted you to get dragged into this mess too..." he dropped his hands with a growl of annoyance. If he hadn't been so set on chasing Valon he could have been able to stop this from happening.

"You're my friend, Joey," Rose said with a warm smile, "And friends look out for each other."

"You bet they do," Joey said, sending a smile in Yugi's direction.

"Now let's just hope the Pharaoh can get Kaiba to help him defeat Dartz," Yugi said.

"That won't be easy," Joey said instantly. "Kaiba's head is too far up his own ass to care about what's going on, he just wants his company back."

"Well maybe that will give him a reason to help," Yugi suggested.

"Let's hope so," Rose said.

* * *

Okay, so you probably all guessed how this chapter would turn out, but I hope I wrote it well anyway :) I did consider letting Rose win this duel, but then Joey would have had to lose his duel to Valon, and I think Joey's victory in that duel was very important, and the plot simply works better this way :) so I hope you liked the chapter!

Please let me know what you think :)

PharaohsThrone


	17. Chapter 41 - Reminiscing

**Chapter 41 - Reminiscing**

Yami stood a few feet away from Joey, as Tristan and Tea kneeled next to him, begging him to open his eyes. It was all for nothing though, for his soul had been taken by the Orichalcos. Yami could only stand back and watch as his friends tried to get through to the man, who was lying unconscious against the fence.

"Say something," Tristan said, his hands gripping Joey's shoulders.

"I don't think he can..." Yami said, his voice strained. First Yugi, then Rose, and now Joey...when will this stop? he thought. As he stood there looking down at his friend, countless memories passed through his mind, one after another.

* * *

_Yugi watched on, confused as Rose sorted through her cards. She soon found the ones she was looking for, "Here," she held them out to him with a smile._

_"Your Knight cards?" Yugi stared at them, puzzled._

_"I want you to have them," Rose said. She handed them to Yugi and he looked down at them. Queen's Knight, Kings Knight and Jack's Knight._

_"I can't take these, they're some of your best cards," he said, holding them out to her to take back._

_She shook her head, "I have plenty of good cards. Besides, you'll need them more than I will, your deck needs to be as strong as possible, remember? These knights have always been great cards to me, so I'm sure they'll do the same for you," she gave him an encouraging smile._

_"Are you sure?" Yugi asked her._

_Rose nodded, "And like when you had Joey's Red Eyes, you'll have a part of me in your deck, so technically I'll be helping you kick butt," she grinned._

_"Thanks Rose," Yugi said, putting the cards with his deck._

_"Now we're one step closer to defeating whoever it is that is causing all this madness," Yami said._

_"Let's just hope we can find out exactly who it is before it's too late," Rose said._

* * *

_Yugi turned to the Pharaoh's spirit who was standing beside him absent mindedly, "Have you ever seen this card before?" Yugi asked. Yami appeared to be deep in thought, he was staring into space. "Hello?" Yugi asked, walking around to face him, "Something on your mind?" Yugi asked him, waving a hand in front of the Pharaoh's face._

_Yami looked up, "Did you say something?"_

_Rose and Yugi just looked at each other, "Alright spill it, what's wrong?" Rose said, standing up to stand next to Yugi._

_"I'm perfectly fine," Yami said._

_"Yeah, right." Rose and Yugi were now both standing in front of Yami, with their arms folded accusingly._

_"Come on, we know you," Yugi said, "You're worried about something and you don't want to tell us."_

_He looked at them both for a moment, and then sighed, "You're right," Yami said. "I forgot, I can't hide anything from you two." If it had been any other situation, Rose and Yugi would have grinned at each other.  
_  
_"Then what's up?" Rose asked._

_Yami turned to look out the window, "It's just that we know so little about what we're up against and who this new enemy is," he explained. _If I only understood more about my own past, I could be more helpful in answering these questions_, he thought._

_"I heard that," Yugi piped up. "Remember our spirits are together, I know your thoughts. Actually, that's probably why you're worried about all of this," Yugi continued, "because I am too...This seems like our toughest fight yet, and the future of the world is depending on us. What if we mess things up?" he asked, sounding worried._

_"We won't," Yami said reassuringly._

_Rose then grabbed the boy's attention. "Yugi, you have all of us behind you, there's no way you'll screw things up," she said with a smile._

_"You're both right," Yugi sighed, shaking his head as if to clear his distressed thoughts. "I guess I sound kind of silly," he said. "Let's get some rest, we have a huge day ahead of us, and our new adventure starts tomorrow."_

* * *

_"Can't sleep, can you?" Yami's spirit appeared before Rose, sitting on her desk chair._

_"How'd you guess?" she asked, sitting up in her bed with a sigh._

_He shrugged, "I can sense you," he said. "Ever since I met you I've noticed this mysterious, ancient presence about you, and now I know why."_

_Rose sighed, "Yeah but what's bugging me is how I ended up here 5000 years in the future with no recollection of anything. I mean, at least you know how you got here, you're spirit was locked inside the puzzle until Yugi solved it, but I've got no clue. It frustrates me that my memory only goes back a few years. And the fact that I have my own body compared to you is another mystery altogether."_

_"Hmm," Yami nodded, "well, how about instead of focusing on what we don't know, we have a look at what we do know," he suggested._

_"Alright," Rose said, "So what is it that we do know?"_

_"Well we know that back in Egypt I was Pharaoh, and we were somehow close friends as Arthur explained, though I'm not sure where your place was in the palace." Rose nodded, urging him to continue. "We also know that when that great evil arrived, I apparently saved the world from destruction, and sealed my spirit inside the millennium puzzle doing so. As I recall, Arthur said you were with me when this happened, so I would assume that whatever happened to you during that time was something similar, as when I returned 5000 years later, so did you." He had obviously spent some time thinking about this already, Rose realised. It was a very plausible explanation however, she just wasn't sure how she could have been involved in helping him rid the evil that threatened to destroy all of Egypt, perhaps the world even._

_"That's quite possible," Rose said, throwing the idea around in her head, "I just wish I remembered more about my life in the 21st century," she slumped back against her bed head._

_"Let's not worry about that now. At the moment we just have to focus on stopping that biker gang from collecting more souls, and hopefully Pegasus will help us find more answers."_

_"Yeah," Rose said, "And we'll take these guys down," she said with a grin._

_"Together," Yami nodded, smiling. "Now get some rest, tomorrow is a big day."_

* * *

_With a measly 200 life points left, Joey was about to forfeit the duel, thinking that if Mai saw him sacrificing himself for her, that maybe she would see the light. Defeated, he moved to place his hand over his deck._

_"Joey no!" Yami called out, causing him to stop in surprise and turn towards the gang. "Forfeiting is not the answer, if you give up the duel you're giving up on yourself and your friends. If you want to save Mai then keep fighting," he urged._

_"Are you sure?" Joey asked, sounding unsure._

_"Yes, because right now Mai is driven by anger, jealousy and hatred, so you need to remind her what duelling is truly about: trust, conviction, and heart," Yami explained._

_"He's right Joey," Rose said, "If you want Mai to see the light, giving up will do nothing, she needs to see you fighting with all of your heart, and that you're doing it for her." _

_"You're right," Joey said, moving his hand away from his duel disk and curling it into a fist. "I forgot what really matters, I forgot the heart of the cards..." He then lifted his head up, determination clear on his face. "This duel is still on Mai, and from now on, I'm giving it everything i've got!"_

* * *

_The Orichalcos was closing in on Yami as he stood there helplessly, but to his surprise at the last minute he was pushed out of the way._

_"Huh?" he turned around, shocked. "Yugi! What are you doing?" He asked, alarmed._

_"The seal only needs one of us," Yugi said, "That's why I'm letting it take me instead."_

_His eyes widened in horror, "No! Yugi!" But no matter how loud he called out Yugi's name, nothing could have stopped the Orichalcos from tearing the boy's soul away from him._

* * *

_Rose carefully approached Yami as he sat on his hands and knees facing away from her, and she could see the small pool of tears that had formed on the ground in front of him. She couldn't imagine the guilt he must have been feeling, and she knew it would not disappear soon, but she had to do something. She kneeled in front of him, gently putting her hands on his shoulders as his head was dropped, facing the ground. He was trembling, and he didn't move upon noticing her presence, nor did he try to hide the look of utter despair on his face._

_Rose wasn't quite sure what to say, so she said the first thing that came to mind. "I promise we'll get Yugi back," she said gently. He didn't look up at her, but she continued anyway, "We'll find this Dartz guy, kick his butt all the way back to Atlantis, and then we'll make him return every single soul the Orichalcos took..." Yami seemed to have stopped trembling, and it seemed as if he had paused in his place, listening to Rose's words, but not giving her any sign of acknowledgement. "Look at me," Rose lifted his chin up so that he would finally look at her, holding his face in her hands so that he couldn't look away. "Yugi will be okay," she said reassuringly. "We just have to find him, and bring him back." Yami's face softened, and he put his hand over hers where it rested on his cheek in a thankful gesture. Even though he hadn't said anything, she understood what he meant._

* * *

_"Pharaoh," Rose said, grabbing his arm gently. He relaxed his hand and finally turned to look at her. "You can't believe a single word that Raphael said to you. He may have not used the card in your duel, but the Orichalcos controls him, and we can't trust anybody associated with it. I don't believe you were an evil Pharaoh. You fought against the evil that tried to destroy Egypt, you weren't the cause of it."_

_He sighed, "Even if that is true," he said, turning back to the window, "I still fear the darkness inside my heart since I played that card. Without Yugi's light to guide me, I don't know what will happen."_

_"The world isn't split up into good and evil," Rose said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Everybody has both light and darkness in their hearts, but their character is judged on which side they decide to act on. You are a good person, I know that. You were also a great Pharaoh. You just have to believe that your light can overshadow the darkness just like it did all those years ago."_

_He looked back at her, "You really mean that?" he asked._

_"Every word," Rose said with a reassuring smile._

_He sighed, and Rose could see the ghost of a smile trying to show itself, "Thank you." Rose gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and then looked down, noticing the deck of cards sitting in Yami's belt. She reached down and pulled them out to make a point. "My deck?" Yami asked as she held them in front of him, "What do you wish to do with that?"_

_"This is the deck that you and Yugi built together, right?" Rose said. Yami nodded. "Your heart is in this deck, and so is his. So even though he may not be with you right now, you can still defeat this evil together. Just don't forget everything you taught me about the heart of the cards."_

_Yami smiled, "How can I forget my own advice." He took his deck back from Rose and sorted through the cards until he found Queen's Knight. "I also have a part of you in my deck to help me," he said, holding the card up with a smile._

_"You bet, so there's nothing stopping us. I promise that together we'll defeat this beast and save Yugi, he'll be back with us in no time."_

* * *

_Yugi demanded Queen's Knight to go onto the catapult._

_"Yugi please!" Yami called out to him, "Don't go through with this!"_

_"Too late," Yugi said, narrowing his eyes. "Attack!" The Catapult began to launch._

_"Yugi no!" Yami cried out, "I won't let you do this!" So he activated his trap card, Divine Wind._

_"He did it!" Rose said, nudging Tea's arm. The other girl looked over, just to see Yugi get blown off of his feet._

_"What have I done?!" Yami said, "Yugi!" he ran over to his friend, who was lying on the ground motionless. Yami reached him, and lifted him up, "Speak to me, please."_

_Yugi then opened his eyes, "You passed the test, pal," he said with a weak smile._

_"What are you talking about?" Yami asked, his eyes burning with the threat of tears. "Did you plan this all along?"_

_"It was the only way, by defeating me you were able to defeat the darkness that was inside your heart. It wasn't easy but you did what was best for me and for mankind. You acted like a true hero," Yugi placed a weak hand on Yami's arm with a reassuring smile._

_"But now what?" Yami asked, staring down at him._

_"Don't give up this fight, remember: I'm always with you."_

* * *

_Yami suddenly felt something in his chest. What was it? He wasn't sure, but it felt like something was calling out to him. It felt like..._

_"The Millennium Heart!" he called out in surprise, stopping._

_"What is it, Pharaoh?" Tea asked._

_"Rose's heart, I can feel it..." he looked down at the Millennium Puzzle that had started glowing, "Joey must be in trouble!" He suddenly started running again at full speed, determined to reach his friend. "We're close!" he called back as they ran through a narrow gap between two buildings. That's when they heard someone cry out nearby, and everyone's eyes widened._

_"That doesn't sound like Joey!" Tea exclaimed, worry clear in her voice. They saw the green illumination of the Orichalcos just ahead of them, and they broke into the clearing, before stopping dead in their tracks._  
_Before them, Rose and Mai were standing facing each other, surrounded by the Seal of Oricalcose. What made Yami's stomach drop however, was that Rose's life points had just hit zero._

_"Rose!" Tea called out in alarm, before covering her mouth with her hand in shock._

_Rose was struggling to stay on her feet, having just been hit by a devastating attack, and she turned, noticing their arrival. A look of guilty despair suddenly appeared on her face as her chest rose and fell rapidly, her shoulders slumped. Her hair had fallen into her eyes, but Yami could still see the self hatred that filled them as she looked over at him._

_"I'm so sorry," she breathed. Yami almost couldn't hear her from where he was standing, only 10 meters away. "I didn't want Mai to get to Joey...but I failed." Her body trembled as she tried to stay on her feet, and she didn't bother to hide the damage that duel had done to her, she was weak and drained. The adrenaline she had felt only moments ago had been sucked out of her, leaving her to feel the pain she'd been holding off the whole time._

_Yami couldn't believe what he was seeing, this was the last thing he had expected, and he knew what happened next. He couldn't make himself move though, his legs were glued in their place, his eyes fixed on her. Never before had he seen that look in her eyes; they were so empty yet so filled with guilt and despair. He was speechless, and he couldn't bare the thought of losing another friend._  
_Yami was pulled out of his trance and back to reality when Rose let out a piercing cry, the Orichalcos closing in around her._

_"No! Rose!" Yami cried out to her. Finally able to pull himself forwards, he ran towards her desperately, but by the time he reached her, she was already gone. The Orichalcos had disappeared, and her empty shell of a body fell towards the ground. Yami just managed to catch her before she hit the hard bitumen, sinking to his knees in order to break her fall. He stared down at his friend, who he'd known back when he was Pharaoh, over 5000 years ago. If only he remembered. She had been the only person who had managed to cheer him up after he lost Yugi, and now she was gone as well._

_"Rose..." he breathed, looking down at her limp and lifeless body, "Not you too..."_

* * *

Yami pulled out his deck, and saw Queen's Knight sitting on top. _They may not be here, but their courage and determination is in my deck_. He looked down at Joey, before taking a deep breath and placing his deck back in his belt. "This madness stops now." He then turned, and with Rose still on his back, he headed towards Paradius headquarters with only one thing in mind: Eliminating Dartz.

"Hold up!" Tristan said, trying to lift Joey onto his own back so he could follow. Yami stalked towards Paradius, thinking about his friends that were counting on him to defeat Dartz and bring all the souls back that had been captured. The weight on his back only reminded him of how lonely he felt without Yugi, Rose and Joey by his side, but he had to keep pressing forwards. He still had Tristan and Tea following behind him, though he wasn't sure how far ahead he had gotten.

Yami soon reached Paradius, and instantly a familiar voice echoed around him.  
"We've been expecting you Pharaoh..." It was definitely Dartz. Yami placed Rose on the ground next to the front elevator, leaning her against the wall.

"You should be safe here..." he murmured, kneeling in front of her. "When I come back, I hope that you, Yugi and Joey will be free again." He then looked up, and saw that someone was coming down in the elevator. He stood up and braced himself for whoever it might be. The doors opened, and a a ghostly fog rolled out, before a figure of a person fell forwards towards Yami. He caught her before she hit the ground, "Mai?" he looked down at the unconscious woman. "Say something," he said. But it was no use, she was gone. He placed her next to Rose beside the elevator, before walking inside and heading up to face whoever had taken Mai's soul.

* * *

Hello all! So this chapter may not have been very eventful, but i still think it was relevant cause I imagined that while Yami was making his way to paradius that his mind would have been running wild with the previous events so there you go. This is actually about as far as i had pre-written of this story also, so chapters may take a little longer now as I actually have to continue watching the episodes and writing at the same time, so we'll see how that goes.

Anyway, let me know what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	18. Chapter 42 - Grappling With A Guardian

**Chapter 42 - Grappling With A Guardian**

"This is unbearable!"

Rose was sitting with Yugi and Joey amidst the crowd of lost souls, constantly fidgeting and practically tearing her hair out. She finally stood up, throwing her hands into the air, "I can't stand not knowing whats happening!" she ranted, before beginning to pace from side to side.

"Rose, sit down," Joey insisted, grabbing her arm and pulling her down next to him. She just grumbled, crossing her arms in front of her. "Relax, there's nothing we can do," Joey tried to calm her down, and she sighed.

"But what if the Pharaoh is in trouble?" she asked, "We just don't know. I hate not knowing!"

Yugi gave her a sympathetic smile, "Try to relax, Rose, we'll be out of here soon."

She sighed, "I just wish I could somehow see what was going on at least..." The three of them sat in silence for a moment, before the millennium heart lit up. "Huh?" she said in confusion, looking down at it.

"What's going on?" Joey asked, looking at the heart also.

Rose blinked at the Millennium Heart on her chest. "I...don't know..." she murmured. Yugi noticed the Millennium symbol appear on Rose's forehead, before the heart shot out a beam of light before them, opening up a window. The three of them watched on in confusion in shock. They looked at the image being projected in front of them, and gasped when they saw the image of Yami standing across from Raphael surrounded by the seal of oricalcose.

"Rose, you did it!" Yugi cheered. "We can see what's happening!"

Joey had his eyebrows raised. "That heart of yours is really something," he said, "what else can it do?"

"Lots of things," Rose said with a laugh, and they all turned their attention to the duel playing out in front of them. They could see Yami and Raphael in the middle of a duel, and Tea, Tristan, Kaiba and Mokuba were the audience.

"Whoa, is that me?" Joey asked, looking over at Tristan who was indeed, carrying Joey's body in his back.

"Looks like it," Rose said, "But where am I?" she asked, "They can't possibly have left me behind," she wondered.

"Don't worry Rose," Yugi said with a laugh, "I'm sure your body is safe."

"At least you don't have to worry about yours," Rose said, crossing her arms in a huff, "The Pharaoh is looking after it for you."

Joey then asked what was going on, for Raphael was on his knees. Rose pointed out that it must have been a good sign, and it appeared that Yami was in the middle of explaining something to the other man.

"Shut up and we might actually be able to hear them," Joey said, waving a hand in Rose and Yugi's direction.

They listened carefully, and the voices managed to float through to them.

_"There's only one problem,"_ Raphael was saying, _"The Seal of Orichalcos still needs to capture one of our souls."_ Yami did not look happy about that. Raphael stood up and continued the duel, bringing back every monster that had been sent to the graveyard. Nobody understood what he was doing, and he now had 4 monsters on the field, none of which could attack. _"Well that's it,"_ Raphael said, lifting his head up, _"My grave yard is completely empty, and my guardians are free."_

Joey, Rose and Yugi were shocked to see that each monster Raphael brought back cost him 500 life points, which was more than he could afford. They watched on in surprise as his life points hit zero, and Raphael bowed his head, before the Seal closed in around him.

"Wait...so he just made himself lose?" Joey asked, his eyebrows raised.

Rose nodded, "The Pharaoh must have been able to talk some sense into him," she said with a smile.

"Aw, so we basically missed the entire duel!" Joey complained, crossing his arms. Yugi just laughed at him, telling him that he would have plenty more chances to see a duel.

...

Yami was amazed to see that when the Seal circled around Raphael, the events that followed were not as usual. The Seal disappeared, and the man was still conscious. The gang-what was left of it-ran over to the man, questioning the Seal and why it had not taken his soul. Yami then explained that the Seal derives it's power from the darkness inside the person's soul, but Raphael had been able to conquer that darkness before the duel came to a close. Raphael looked down at the necklace that until moments before, had held the Orichalcos stone, but now it was gone, having smashed into a thousand little pieces.

Much to their surprise however, the building began to shake, and they were at the very top of it. Tristan asked what was going on, and Tea replied with wide eyes that Paradius was collapsing.

"We've got to get out of here!" Mokuba said, turning to head towards the elevator. Before he could get very far though, the roof of the large concrete structure split in half, only a metre in front of the dark haired boy.

Tea looked towards the split in the building, looking quite worried. "There goes our ride down!" she wailed. There were a few more cries of worry, before a loud noise above them caught their attention. To their relief, the KC helicopter was flying overhead, and Roland was waving his arms around, trying to get their managed to make their way up to the helicopter, all but Yami and Raphael. The building was collapsing fast, and so Raphael pushed Yami up onto the helicopter landing, before the stairwell collapsed, and he was consumed by the mass of concrete that fell from all directions. Shocked at the events, Yami only just managed to jump onto the helicopter before the entire building collapsed.

The gang were finally relaxed as they sat in the helicopter, having only narrowly escaped the falling structure of Paradius headquarters. Seto finally looked up from his seat, looking around at the group of people.

He was quite surprised when he saw that someone was missing. "Where's Rose?" he asked, "Didn't she go after Wheeler before?" he inclined his head towards the limp body that Tristan had placed down on the seat beside him, and Yami's eyes widened.

"Rose is still down there!" he exclaimed, jumping up to look out the window. Tea let out a shriek of surprise, having not noticed her absence either.

While watching this all from another realm, Rose wished they could hear her saying,_ "Gee, thanks guys,"_ in a sarcastic tone.

Yami explained how he had left her at the entrance along with Mai, and Seto demanded that Roland turn the helicopter around, so that they could go back for her. As the helicopter descended beside the dilapidated structure, Yami felt his chest tighten. How could I have been so stupid to leave her there?!

The helicopter finally landed, and Yami, Tea, Tristan and Mokuba all jumped out, rushing over to the building. It was now nothing but a crumpled mess of concrete. Yami fought back the urge to call out Rose's name, for even if her body was unharmed, she would not be able to reply. He ran through the rubble, with the others on his tail, and Seto casually following behind at his own pace. Yami stopped suddenly, when he saw the remains of the outer walls loom up in front of him.

Sitting there, against the wall where he had left her, was Rose.

He let out a sight of relief, as he approached with confused eyes; she was completely unharmed. It looked like there was a circle of debris around her, and it appeared that nothing had touched her.

"What the?" they were surprised to hear Seto speak from behind them, and Mokuba asked why she hadn't been hurt by the falling debris. Yami crouched down beside Rose, and he could see the gleam of the Millennium Heart on her chest, almost winking at him in the sunlight.

"The Millennium Heart," he murmured, gently running his hand along the shiny surface. He turned back to the gang, "It protected her."

"But how?" Mokuba asked.

Tea made a noise of realisation, "That light shield she can conjure! Like when those bikers tried to attack us!" Yami nodded, a relieved smile on his face. He lifted her up into his arms, and they all turned to head back to the helicopter, relieved that she hadn't been harmed. After Yami placed Rose down beside Joey and the helicopter took off again, Yami handed Seto a computer chip that Raphael had given him just before the building collapsed. Seto placed it in one of his self-made devices, and it opened up a map, leading them straight to Dartz's _real_ headquarters.

"Let's go kick some Atlantian butt!" Tristan cheered.

* * *

Im sorry this chapter was short and boring! D: i'll make it up to you guys, don't worry, this story is only like half way :P so i have a feeling theres gonna be heaps of chapters but i don't think that splitting this into two stories would work :/ what's your opinion?

Always happy to heart what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	19. Chapter 43 - Dartz's Weapon

_**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's taken me so long to update, I've had a lot of exams this past week and was on a roll for my 'Crimson Eyed Shadow' story, so I'm sorry that it got updated before this! Updates for this story will be slower than before, I'm afraid, because now I actually have to write the chapters and not just edit them, so bare with me! This story is far from done! And there will be quite a few additions to the story line once we reach season 5 ;) (But it'll be for the better, I swear!) So for now, sit back and enjoy the chapter as Yami and Seto go to face Dartz! **_

* * *

**Chapter 43: Dartz's Weapon**

After battling treacherous winds across the ocean, the gang managed to find their way to the real place where Dartz was hiding. Though they were sure he wasn't so much hiding, as waiting for them to find him. Once the helicopter had landed, Yami took one more look at his two friends who were no longer with them, before stepping out onto the stone surface of Dartz's lair. He and Seto started making their way inside, with Mokuba running after them. After hesitating for a moment, Tea and Tristan followed. The inside seemed to be some sort of ancient design, with stone pillars lining the walls, each with a snake wrapped around it made of stone. Yami admired the intricate details of the design, before looking forwards again and noticing there were another three stone snake statues, each with it's mouth wide open as if poised to attack. They made their way past the statues, through to another corridor. It was eerily quiet, and Tea voiced her concern whilst walking past more snake statues. Yami then spoke without turning around, telling her that Dartz will be quietly waiting for them, explaining the odd silence the building held.

They then reached a room, and were stunned at what they saw. The walls, floor and roof were covered with stone carvings of people, each on their own stone tablet. It sent a shiver up Tea's spine, as Tristan asked what it was about. Tea then pointed towards one of the walls, her eyes wide.

"They're not just any people!" she announced, "Look! There's Mai." They all turned their attention to where Tea was pointing, and to their surprise, they saw the familiar blonde woman etched into the stone.

"This must be all the people who have lost their souls!" Tristan exclaimed, still staring at the carving of Mai. Yami felt an odd pang in his chest as he looked along the wall, not sure if he wanted to see the other people there. He was considering looking away, when his eyes landed on a familiar figure, and it was too late.

"Yugi!" he called out, running over to the wall. Just as he feared, the boy in question was carved into the wall, but even as Yami ran his hand over the surface, it was hard to believe that it was indeed a depiction of his friend, who's soul was captured. After all, they were nothing but stone carvings, but the meaning behind them was almost more than he could handle. He then looked at the carvings next to Yugi's. Tea and Tristan had come up behind him as he looked at the carvings, and he heard Tea speak from over his shoulder.

"Joey!" Although she already knew he would be there, it still startled her to see her friend etched into the wall.

Yami then let his eyes run over the other carvings. "And Rose..." he murmured, sliding his hand from where it rested on Yugi's tablet to hers. Although it was just a lifeless carving, he noticed the distraught expression on her face, and he balled his hand into a fist over the carving. "Dartz will pay dearly for what he's done to our friends..."

Still watching everything unfold from another realm, Rose, Yugi and Joey were stunned to see the room that the group had entered. Rose heard Joey audibly swallow behind her.

"That's us..." he said, staring down into the room, seeing himself etched into the wall.

Rose could tell the idea made Joey uncomfortable, and she didn't blame him, for she was feeling a bit squeamish for seeing herself there, as well. She turned around, still seeing the thousands of people around them. "There must be thousands of those tablets, for each person that is here..."

Both groups were surprised to hear another voice ring out through the room. "What a touching reunion..." the familiar voice sneered.

Yami spun around from where he had been standing by the wall, searching for the voice as he growled under his breath, "Dartz..."

"Too bad your friends turned out to be a bunch of stiffs," Dartz mused, before letting out a menacing laugh. They couldn't see him however, but as his laugh echoed off the walls, Yami balled his hands into fists at his sides. They then saw a large flash of light come down from the ceiling, and once it hit the ground it formed into the shape of a person.

"Dartz." Yami narrowed his eyes at the man.

The Atlantian looked amused, "You were expecting someone else?"

Rose, Joey and Yugi watched on as Yami and Seto demanded for Dartz to set them free (and to give Kaiba his company back). The man did not so much as flinch at their loud and aggressive demands, simply saying that the only way they'd have a glint of a chance is if they would duel him. Yami and Seto instantly took on the challenge, activating their duel disk to show they meant business. Dartz simply laughed, declaring with great confidence that he would gain two souls for the price of one.

"Here we go..." Joey said, looking through the window into the scene before them. It looked like Yami and Kaiba were both going to take on Dartz at once.

"Hopefully having two against one will give them the upper hand," Rose said, though she was still uncertain.

"Don't worry Rose," Yugi said, watching the scene beside her. "When the Pharaoh and Kaiba work together, they make a great team." The three were stunned to see their friends' first moves, both of them bringing out some of their strongest monsters for Dartz to deal with. Seto had managed to summon his Blue Eyes White Dragon, and Yami had Black Luster Soldier in front of him. Rose found herself smiling slightly, perhaps she was being a bit too paranoid, Yami and Seto were the best two duellists in the world as far as she was concerned (Yugi being beside them of course). Therefore, she decided that she shouldn't be so worried, and continued to watch as the duel began.

Dartz drew his first card and just by looking at the glint in his eyes everyone knew what he had drawn. "This card was created from the darkness itself!" he declared, holding the card high in the air. "Behold the power that has existed since the dawn of time," he continued. "The very power that shall strip you of your souls!"

Rose, Joey and Yugi all tensed upon seeing the card. "The Seal Of Orichalcos..." Rose whispered, watching the Seal encircle the field. Once it had taken it's place, their vision of what was happening became distant and blurred.

"Hey, what's going on?" Joey asked, stepping back as the window started to glow a bright green.

Yugi and Rose stepped back also, afraid that the Seal had caused this. "I'm not sure Joey," Yugi replied, still staring at the green glow in front of him. "But it can't be good." The three watched on as the glow dimmed, revealing the Orichalcos symbol, blocking their view of the duel. Joey and Rose were confused, so Yugi tried to elaborate from his idea of what was going on. "The Seal...it's stopping us from seeing the duel."

"Is this like when..." Rose began, not sure if this would be a touchy subject for Yugi. "When the Pharaoh duelled Raphael and he activated the seal?"

She noticed the faint look of pain that crossed Yugi's features, and felt bad for asking, though he soon composed himself, sure that he was past being upset about it. "When the Seal separated me from him?" he asked. Rose nodded carefully. "It seems so. I don't think we'll be able to see how this plays out after all..." He looked disappointed, after the hope that Rose's heart brought to them had just been counteracted.

Joey let out a noise of annoyance, before sitting back down again. "So all we can do is just sit here and wait to either be set free or fed to that beast?" he asked.

"That's all we were doing before..." Rose murmured, taking one more look at the Seal blocking their window, before trying to think of a way to tell the Millennium Heart to cease it's attempt at seeing back through to the real world. She gave up and sat down next to Joey and Yugi, before the window disappeared of its own accord. Rose sighed, "I wish I knew how to control this bloody thing..."

...

The three lost souls did not know how long they had been sitting and waiting. Time seemed to not really exist in whatever realm they were in, and they were all becoming restless, wanting to know what was happening in the duel.

"They've got to be winning," Joey said, running a hand through his hair, "They summoned some of their best monsters on the first turn."

Rose wanted to believe him, but if those monsters had been of great use to them, they would have won by now. "But we didn't see Dartz's first turn," she pointed out. "He could have summoned something stronger."

"Rose is right Joey," Yugi spoke up, "I can't imagine Dartz would have a deck of ordinary monsters. I'm sure he has something twisted up his sleeve." As Yugi finished speaking, the three of them felt an odd force surrounding them.

"What's going on?" Joey asked, suddenly panicking.

"I don't know!" Yugi replied, before his eyes widened when he looked at his hand, it had disappeared. The three were all in shock as they watched their limbs fade into nothing, before their minds were consumed by darkness.

...

Rose was confused beyond belief. Not a minute ago, she had been sitting with Yugi and Joey, wondering what was going on in the duel they had been shut off from. Then they were suddenly pulled away from the room of crowded people, and she couldn't see or hear anything. She became worried, just before she could hear the buzz of voices surrounding her, see the thousands of souls that had been taken away from their bodies, but now there was nothing. Where were Yugi and Joey?

Where was she? There was nothing but darkness. Unable to feel her own body (even if she had just been a spirit before) or see and hear anything, she began to panic. Was it too late? Had she already been consumed by the great beast? Had the Pharaoh and Seto failed at defeating Dartz?

She was about to find out.

Her vision suddenly turned from darkness to light, thought it was too bright to see anything, and her ears were filled with the sound of something breaking around her. Once the blinding light faded, Rose could not believe what she saw.

Standing in front of her, were Seto and Yami.

Rose could not fathom what was going on. She can't have gotten her soul back, for if she did she would have been able to move, and she was sure she wouldn't have been standing up already, too. Plus the look of absolute horror on Yami's face confirmed that this was indeed not something to be happy about. That's when she noticed that she was not alone. Standing beside her, wearing heavy shiny armour, were Joey, Yugi and Pegasus of all people. She couldn't move her head, but she soon noticed she was also bearing the heavy armour. What was going on?!

"Yugi! Rose! Joey!" Yami called out, his eyes wide with horror. Rose wanted to respond, to give him some sort of sign that she was alright, but she couldn't move, couldn't speak. It was torture to her. But what was puzzling her most was what was she doing there? And why were they all wearing this armour? "How is this possible?!" Yami demanded, still unable to tear his eyes away from the knights standing before him.

Dartz let out a menacing laugh, "I control the souls of your companions, remember?"

That's when Rose realised why Yami (along with Tristan, Tea and Mokuba) all looked so afraid. Dartz was standing behind her, and Yami and Seto were standing in front of her, with the Seal surrounding them all. Then it hit her: they were the monsters!

"Attack my knights and you'll be attacking your friends," Dartz announced with a devious smirk. "No matter what you do, you lose. It's impossible to defeat me without destroying these monsters," he explained. "And you can't destroy my knights without destroying the souls of your friends!" He let out another laugh, and if Rose had been able to move she would have froze from the sudden realisation.

Her, Yugi, Joey and Pegasus had just become Dartz's biggest weapon, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. She knew that Yami wouldn't attack for fear of destroying them, but if they didn't attack, Dartz would defeat them. There was no way out, they were all done for.

* * *

aaaaand I bet you all saw that one coming :P

Please let me know what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	20. Chapter 44 - A Fearful Score

**Chapter 44 - A Fearful Score**

"Tell me gentlemen," Dartz spoke in his usual calm manner, "What do you think of my newest monsters? I'm sure there's no need for introductions," he finished his sentence with a laugh as he smirked at Yami and Seto.

Yami's free hand was balled into a fist at his side, "That's not funny, Dartz," he growled, narrowing his eyes. Yami couldn't believe the sight before him, previously he had thought that his friends couldn't be in a worse position having their souls taken away, but now it seemed that he was wrong. The four knights stood across from him, their eyes blank and lifeless, but he knew that somewhere inside those knight statues, were his friends. He could barely think straight by this point, afraid that once again it would be by his own hand that his friends would suffer. As Kaiba stood next to him though, he assumed that the man didn't seem fazed by this at all. Of course Kaiba wouldn't think any of this was real, he never did.

"You should be thanking me, _Pharaoh_," Dartz sneered. "I'm giving you one last chance to see your friends before their souls are gone forever."

This caused something to snap inside of Yami, and he shouted at Dartz with so much intensity that Tea was caught by surprise, "You'll never take them away from us, Dartz!"

Dartz simply chuckled in amusement, waving off Yami's anger. In reality Dartz wanted to make the two men as angry as possible, so that the Orichalcos could feed on the darkness in their hearts, making the great Laviathon stronger. "Now, I think I'll put my knights to good use..." he said, "Mirror knight Yugi, go and attack your other half," he demanded, pointing a long finger towards Yami. The other man looked to Yugi as boy started to move, and the look of fear in his eyes was hard to miss.

Rose watched from the corner of her eye as Yugi struggled to stay in his place, trying to fight against Dartz's command. _He's fighting back!_ She thought with glee. _Maybe we still do have some control_. If she had been able to move she would have smiled, but it gave her comfort knowing that if she was commanded to attack she at least had a chance to fight it.

"What's this?" Dartz asked, looking at his shortest mirror knight. "My soldier is still loyal to you? How touching. Even though you turned your back on him, he refuses to seek revenge, that will change."

Yami narrowed his eyes at the other man, "We'll see."

Well done, Yugi. Rose thought with an internal sigh of relief. Dartz gave up on making Yugi attack, and the duel continued. Kaiba's turn began, and he summoned his Different Dimension Dragon to the field. _I'm not going to be put off just because he put a few familiar faces on the field,_ he thought as he narrowed his eyes at the knights.

"Keizer Glider, attack Mirror Knight number 3!" he demanded, pointing straight at Joey. Everyone standing behind him gasped, including Yami. It seemed that Seto was the only one who wasn't taking this seriously. Yami tried to reason with his partner, but Seto simply brushed him off, claiming it was all a mind game. "So, you've got a dweeb army?" Kaiba spat at Dartz, "Am I supposed to be scared to attack?" Seto smirked, before continuing, "Keizer Glider, continue your attack on his mirror knight!"

Everyone watched on in fear as Joey was hit with the force of Kaiba's attack, destroying his mirror shield. Then without hesitating, Seto continued, demanding his Dragon to attack the blond and destroy the knight. Rose was stunned, after everything she did to try and save Joey from such a dreadful fate, here they were, once again in danger and she couldn't just stand back and watch one of her best friends get destroyed. Using every part of her will power that she had, she broke the invisible binds surrounding her and jumped in front of Joey, blocking the attack. As her mirror shield was destroyed, she could barely understand what she had just managed. She had no idea that she would have been capable of such a feat, and she was relieved that Joey was alright.

The next thing she noticed was the stunned looks on everyone's faces who were watching, even Seto had raised his eyebrows slightly. Yami was staring at her with wide eyes, "Rose blocked the attack," he said in awe.

"But now she's lost her mirror shield!" Tea said, sounding overly worried as usual.

"Joey's alright, thanks to Rose," Tristan explained, trying to calm down Tea who was standing next to him with her hand covering her mouth.

"Yes and thanks to her using her shield to protect Joseph, Rose managed to ruin your attack," Dartz explained to Seto. The brunet man simply grunted as he placed a card face down, ending his turn. As Yami drew his next card, Seto explained how the only way they could win was by attacking those knights and destroying them. _I can't endanger them!_ Yami thought to himself, hesitating on his move.

"Come on," Seto urged, growing impatient, "Neither of those two have a shield now attack!" He pointed towards Joey and Rose, who were standing side by side, with nothing to protect them. Yami looked down at his hand, hoping that there were a different way out of this. He didn't want to attack his friends, he had sworn to himself that he would never turn his back on them again, especially Yugi. His mind ran wild as he tried to think of what to do, and memories were brought forth to the front of his mind.

Joey risking his life to save him and Yugi two times, once in a fire and another when they were almost pulled to the bottom of the ocean.

Then of Rose, bravely stepping forwards to face that biker gang that had surrounded them, and successfully blocking their attack. Shortly following, was the memory of her kneeling in front of Yami after his duel with Raphael, and giving him the strength to get back up and go after Dartz.

Finally, the memory of when Yami had been pushed away from the Orichalcos, only to turn and see Yugi take his place. _"I'm letting the Seal take me instead..."_

_I can't put my friends in harms way..._he thought, a defeated look on his face. "Alright Dartz, I have no choice but to end my turn."

Seto looked outraged, turning to Yami with an incredulous look, "What are you doing?!"

Dartz found this all quite amusing, as he smirked at the two men before him. Although Seto wasn't co-operating, as long as Yami continued to hold back, they would both fall right into his hands, and be the last two souls to feed the great beast. He was almost bursting with the anticipation. Finally, after all this time, he would be able to rule over a perfect world once again, after being rid of all it's corrupted inhabitants, just like the ones standing before him now. His plan was working perfectly, and there was nothing they could do to stop him. Yami was almost starting to believe that, too.

Dartz began his turn by activating the magic card Twin Bow Centar. "Now I choose two monsters," he explained, "One on my side of the field, and one on yours. Then my Centar will randomly choose one of them to remove from the game. I think I'll target Kaiba's Keizer Glider, and Mirror Knight Joseph!"

There was a chorus of gasps from behind Yami and Seto, and Rose could see Tristan, Mokuba and Tea had stunned looks on their faces, voicing their concerns for Joey being removed from the game. Rose could almost feel his fear as the Centar pointed an arrow straight at him. That wasn't the only concern however, for if the Centar took out Seto's monster, he would lose most of his life points, giving Dartz quite the upper hand. Heck, thanks to his card combination Dartz had over 12,000 life points by now anyway, he already had the upper hand. Dartz snapped his fingers and the Centar chose its target: Seto's monster. As it released the arrow and destroyed Seto's Keizer, Mokuba looked terrified, watching his brother's life points drop down to 600. Seto certainly wasn't happy about that.

Dartz announced that there was indeed an upside to this, that being that he had to end his turn, and Seto agreed as he drew his card, glaring at the man. Seto had had enough, so he angrily announced his attack on one of the mirror knights, and since Joey seemed to have nine lives or something, he decided to attack Rose this time. _She's just a hologram_, he thought to himself, _there's no way the real Rose is that knight!_

Yami's eyes widened in horror upon hearing Seto's decision, "Kaiba, wait!"

Seto wouldn't listen though, "Save it! This is all just a cheap trick!" Seto pointed a long finger towards Rose's knight, "Different Dimension Dragon, attack!" After completely ignoring Yami's protests, the Dragon went to attack Rose, who had nothing to protect her. The gang watched on in horror as the dragon advanced on her, opening it's mouth to strike...

But it didn't hit its target.

Instead, it had attacked Yugi, who had jumped in front of Rose to block the attack, and his mirror shield burst into a million tiny pieces as it was destroyed. _Thank you Yugi!_ Rose thought with relief and gratitude. She didn't know what might have happened if she had been destroyed, and she didn't want to find out. She then saw that everyone in front of her had shock plastered on their faces once again.

"Yugi protected Rose!" Tea announced, pointing out the obvious.

Dartz looked highly amused by this point, laughing at the scene before him. "How cute, maybe friendship does conquer all. And thanks to your friends' loyalty to one another, I'll be able to conquer you!" Rose would have scrunched her nose at him, had she been able to, but the duel continued none the less. Kaiba was only one attack away from defeat with 600 life points left, and Yami refused to attack Dartz's knights, so things weren't looking up. It came back to Yami's turn once again, and Seto urged him to attack the Mirror Knights, or they would lose the duel.

"Kaiba, I can't!" Yami said, turning to the man with balled fists. He was about to continue, when another voice interrupted him.

"You have to attack!" Yami's eyes went wide as he turned back, to see Yugi standing there struggling to speak. He was frozen in his place as he stared at the boy, unable to believe what he was hearing.

Rose then managed to speak up as well, grabbing Yami's attention, "We'll be fine, If you don't attack, you'll lose!"

Yami almost couldn't find his voice, as he stared wide eyed at them both, "But, your souls may be lost forever!"

Seto decided to butt in at this point, looking beyond impatient as he crossed his arms. "This is ridiculous," he commented, "Do you realise you're talking to a hologram with your head on it?" He obviously had not noticed the difference in looks between Yugi and Yami, for he failed to accept the fact that the Pharaoh existed at all.

"Kaiba, once again, you're clueless," Yami muttered, not turning to look at the man. Rose assumed that there must have been some silent conversation going on between Yugi and Yami, from the look on the Pharaoh's face, but they were interrupted by Dartz speaking.

"Let's go Pharaoh, everyone is waiting," he urged, his usual smug smirk still on his face. Yami moved his monster into defence mode, placed a card face down and then ended his turn. Dartz let out another loud obnoxious laugh, "It's quite obvious that there's nothing either of you can do to stop me!" he announced.

_This can't happen,_ Rose thought to herself, _If they don't attack, then we're all doomed!_

* * *

_dun dun duuuuun_

poor Yami, not wanting to attack his friends but still wanting to save the world. It's a hard life being a duellist xD

Anyway, i hope you liked the chapter!

Please let me know what you think :)

PharaohsThrone


	21. Chapter 45 - Tales of the Past

**Chapter 45 - Tales of the Past**

The duel continued, and Yami still couldn't force himself to attack Dartz' knights, while the man himself had activated the third level of the Seal, making his power even stronger. It was looking grim for Yami and Seto. Dartz attacked Seto's Different Dimension Dragon, threatening to completely destroy the rest of his life points, but Yami saved his partner by sacrificing his own monster to block the attack. Only thing was, that then left the Pharaoh wide open for an attack.

"Or more like four direct attacks," Dartz laughed. "From my mirror knights! Also known as Rose, Pegasus, Yugi and Joey!" He had a menacing smile on his face as he watched Yami's expression grow darker. "Strike down the Pharaoh my 4 knights!" As much as Rose, Yugi and Joey fought against the order, they couldn't stop themselves from being pulled forwards, forced to carry out their attack.

Yami braced himself as the four Knights ran towards him, their swords raised. Rose was the first to reach him, and as she lifted her sword to strike, he held up his duel disk in defence, and there was a loud clang as the sword collided with the device. Yami stared at Rose wide eyed, her entire body was showing hostility, all but her eyes. They were filled with so many thoughts, he could barely decipher it all. What surprised him most however, was what he heard next.

_'I'm sorry.'_ The two words caught him off guard, as he had heard them in his head, but it was unmistakably Rose's voice. In his moment of distraction however, her sword was able to push back his arm and it slashed across him, reducing his life points. Although it did no physical damage, Yami flinched from the attack, as it drained his energy just like all his other duels. Before he could pull himself back together though, Rose was gone and soon Yugi was slashing at him with his sword also. Yami had no time to prepare himself for the next attack, and he could only flinch again at the sword slashing at him.

Once Joey had done the same, he lifted his head up to see Pegasus approaching, and he tried to defend himself once again by lifting his duel disk up, and when the sword collided with the device, he could hear Pegasus talking to him.

_'Please tell me you have the card I gave you,'_ he begged. 'That card unlocks the secret of the legendary dragons.'

Darts became impatient and demanded Pegasus to attack him, so the knight slashed at Yami with his sword, before returning to his place beside Joey. Kaiba then managed to summon Critias, and merged his dragon with Yami's Mirror Force Trap card. He then attacked Mirror Knight Pegasus so that the attack would be reflected back, but Seto's dragon had a special effect. It was able to absorb the reflection and turn it around on all four of Dartz' mirror knights.

"No Kaiba!" Yami protested, his eyes wide as he stared at Seto's dragon. The man simply ignored him, and declared the attack on the knights. Yami went to step forwards in worry for his friends, but Kaiba held his arm out to stop him. The attack showered over the knights, and Yami called out, "Yugi! Are you alright?"

Yugi, Rose and Joey turned to him as the reflection showered over them, but they didn't look worried at all. 'We'll be fine' he heard Yugi say, before the four knights disappeared, having been destroyed by Kaiba's attack.

Rose groaned as she regained consciousness, feeling a bit more than disoriented. "Ow, my head," he muttered, sitting up as she opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, before realising she was in the exact place that she had been before, surrounded by scores of people in the vast empty space, all who had lost their souls. She then noticed that Yugi, Joey and Pegasus were lying around her, slowly regaining consciousness as she had just done.

"Are you guys alright?" she asked once they had sat up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Yugi said, rubbing his head as he looked around, not being very surprised to find himself back here. Joey simply gave her a thumbs up and Pegasus stayed silent, lost in his thoughts as he looked around the room. Rose sighed, while it was good that Seto had defeated the four knights, she was still unsure of how the two men would hold up against the third layer of the Seal.

The three friends sat in a little circle, trying to talk about trivial things to keep their minds occupied, while Pegasus did his own thing off to the side, obviously not wanting to contribute to the conversation.

"Oh come on Joey," Rose argued lightly, "Valkyria is much hotter than the Dark Magician Girl, she's more...cute."

"Nah," Joey waved a dismissive hand at her as he grinned, "Valkyria looks too serious all the time," he said with a laugh. "Hey Yugi, which duel monster do you think is the hottest?" he turned his attention to his shorter friend, who was caught off guard by the question, having been lost in his thoughts.

"Oh, well, I guess-" he wasn't able to finish his sentence however, for they were alerted to the arrival of yet another soul. As Yugi, Joey and Rose had seen before, whenever a new soul arrived a bright beam of green light would descend from above them and hit the ground, and when the light faded, a person would be lying in its place. Who they saw lying only a few metres away however, caused them all to gasp in shock. The three ran over to the new addition of souls, and stared down at him with wide eyes. Everyone was finding it quite hard to believe, for they were hoping with all of their might that he wouldn't have lost to Dartz, but it appeared otherwise.

Rose was the first to speak, stepping forwards and kneeling next to him as she tried to wake the man up. "...Seto?" The group watched intently as she carefully nudged his shoulder, and the man groaned, finally showing some form of life. After a moment, Seto opened his eyes, feeling quite dazed and confused.

"What the-?" He blinked a few times, and saw Rose kneeling next to him, with Joey and Yugi standing just behind her, all of them with creases of worry on their faces. Even Joey, which was quite surprising. Seto pulled himself into a sitting position, "What's going on? Weren't you all-" He stopped his sentence when he realised Yugi was standing there. "What are you doing here?!" he pushed Rose aside and stood up to speak sternly to the boy, "You were meant to be duelling Dartz!" Yugi had made a startled noise when Seto had pushed Rose aside and advanced on him, now towering over him with a stern look on his face. It made the boy feel quite uncomfortable. "Now get back there and win!" he demanded. Rose stood behind Seto fuming, and everybody seemed to noticed except the man himself.

"Kaiba, you've lost your soul!" Yugi said, "The Pharaoh is still duelling Dartz, but now you're here with us." Seto looked around at the three of them, and then noticed Pegasus over Yugi's shoulder.

He scoffed, "That's right, all of you have supposedly 'lost your souls', but I'm not buying into your game of hide and seek," he sneered. "I'm leaving," he finally announced, turning on his heel and walking in the other direction

Rose rolled her eyes, "Could he be more difficult?" She then groaned and went after him, grabbing the man's arm after he'd only moved a couple of metres. He stopped but didn't turn to look at her. "Don't you get it Seto? You can't leave," she said. "Even if you don't believe all of this, you at least have to understand that were trapped here. Look around."

Seto finally lifted his head and scanned his eyes around the room. Wait, that was just the thing, there was no room. Being as tall as he was, he could see over everyone's head, and see that there were thousands of people filling the vast white space, almost never ending. He finally turned to look at her, but what he said wasn't quite what she expected.

"Last time I saw you, you were unconscious in the helicopter," he noted as he looked down at her.

Rose crossed her arms, challenging his stare, "And right now, you're unconscious in Dartz' lair."

Seto looked to the side, as if considering a thought, "So this is all a dream..." he decided, before turning back to her, "I can live with that."

Rose suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, "Fine, this is all just a big crazy dream, now come back so we can discuss what we're going to do in this dream." Seto must have odd dreams quite a lot, because he agreed with a shrug of his shoulders and followed Rose back to the group, who were sitting down, waiting expectantly.

"So?" Joey asked as they approached, "What's the go?"

Rose sat down with a sigh, "This is all just a big crazy dream," she said as Seto sat down next to her.

He regarded the group before him with lazy eyes, "It better be an interesting one," he muttered.

Yami stared wide eyed at his friends who were now lying unconscious on he floor. First Kaiba lost his soul, and now the rest of his friends were gone, this was almost too much to bear. It also reminded him of a painful memory from back when he duelled Noah in that virtual world. Eventually all of his friends had been turned to stone, and he was the only one left, just like now.

"Don't worry Pharaoh," Dartz said in usual calm manner, as Yami turned back to face him,"I need powerful souls for me vendetta, and your friends are of no use to me, I simply wanted to have some quality time with you," he chuckled as he finished his sentence, making Yami narrow his eyes. "You know we've met before," he continued, "During your reign as King of Egypt." Yami's eyes widened, but he didn't speak. "We may not have been officially introduced, but I was there watching you."

"Go on," Yami urged, slightly curious as to what Dartz had to say.

"When the battle of Atlantis was over I thought the great Laviathon was gone forever," Dartz explained, "That is, until I met you."

"Hold on just a second," Yami interrupted, "What does that foul creature of yours have to do with me?"

"I thought you'd never ask," Dartz mused, "Let's take a look, shall we?" Yami was confused, until the room around him swirled and disappeared, and he was suddenly standing over what looked to be ancient Egypt. "Behold," Dartz announced, looking down over the city, "The Palace of the Pharaoh in the year 3000 BC!"

Yami stared down at it with wide eyes, before they moved to stand just above the throne room of the palace, and a painfully familiar figure stood before a large monster, wearing the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. "Is that...really me?" Yami murmured, staring down at the King. He watched as the Pharaoh stood up to the beast by summoning the mighty Obelisk, and relinquishing the beast. The sheer power that the man below him radiated made Yami almost speechless. "Why are we watching this?" he finally asked.

Dartz looked at him with an amused smirk, "Because, it was on this very day that I first realised the great Laviathon would rise again. And it's all because of you...and a particular friend of yours."

"What do you mean?" Yami asked.

Dartz' eyes were shining with amusement at Yami's reactions to these visions, so he continued. "Just watch," he cast his eyes downwards as the scene changed. They were now standing just outside the palace, and the sky was dark. Suddenly, something burst from the palace gates, a great hideous monster, even bigger than the one from before. Yami watched on as another figure followed, his cape flowing behind him as he chased after the beast on a horse, with Slifer following from the skies, obeying the Pharaoh's orders to pursue the evil creature. "But wait," Dartz said, "There's more." Yami was confused as to what the man meant, but soon another figure on horseback emerged from the palace gates, though this one appeared strikingly feminine. Before he could get a good look at the person though, the scene was gone.

"Wait!" Yami said, still looking below him which was now simply darkness. "Was that-?"

He was cut off by Dartz however, "See, when you passed me while chasing that beast, I sensed your life energy immediately, and I knew it was exactly what I needed. Yours alone however would not accomplish this task though, and lucky for me yours wasn't the only powerful soul I encountered on that day."

"What do you mean?" Yami demanded.

"You should know who I'm talking about Pharaoh," Dartz smirked, "There was a certain girl that I came across during your reign in Egypt, one that I'm sure you know quite well."

Yami tried to think back to the vision he had just witnessed, trying to think about the figure following after him, whether it really was a woman or not. "You mean...?"

Dartz continued, "A girl who held a millennium item on her chest, and managed to escape the brink of death within a matter of minutes," he explained, knowing that he would get an interesting reaction out of the Pharaoh. "One who I've already conveniently captured the soul of," he smirked.

Yami barely heard the last of his sentence, as his eyes widened, "death?!"

"Yes, your dear friend Rose had quite the spirit back in her day," he laughed then, "Of course you don't even remember what she was to you!" He couldn't contain his laughter by this point, pulling the Pharaoh's strings was much too entertaining for him.

Yami growled, "That's enough!" He was staring at Dartz intensely now, his eyes narrowed into slits. "Tell me, how did I know Rose? What was my connection to her?"

Dartz laughed at him, "You really think I'm going to tell you that? There's much more amusing things to tell you, like how you single handedly brought back the shadow games, and nearly wiped out your whole kingdom!"

"That's a lie!" Yami retorted, raising his voice as he stared down the man before him.

"I saw it with my own eyes," Dartz continued, "The way you conjured up creatures of darkness and used them to do your bidding. You are evil, Pharaoh, and there's no denying it!" Yami could do nothing but glare at the man as the continued, "And soon your soul will be given to the great Laviathon, and I'll be able to complete the task that I started centuries ago!"

_No_, Yami thought, _I was a good and just Pharaoh...wasn't I?_

* * *

Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to get this done, Uni has been pretty hectic lately, and in the next 4 weeks, I have 5 assessment pieces due -.- ugh, that's not going to be fun. But anyway...

I have some good news! While this story won't be finished for a long, long time, I have come up with an idea for a sort of side story to this one. It's like Capsule Monsters, where the storyline isn't relevant to the main story, and there isn't a specific point in time where it all happens, but you still understand it...if that makes sense.

Anyway, this side story is simply another adventure that Rose and the gang go on, it probably takes place somwehere between battle city and the orichalcos stuff, so yeah.

Also, on my profile I've put up all the story ideas I have that I'm going to write when I've finished my current stories (Back and Forth and Crimson Eyed Shadow will probably be the first ones to get done) and I've put the side story up there, too. There's a name and a bit of a description so if you're interested, go and have a look, and tell me what you think!

Anyway, I've babbled on enough, hope you liked the chapter!

PharaohsThrone :)


	22. Chapter 46 - Resurrection

**Chapter 46: Resurrection**

"This sucks," Joey complained, throwing his hands up into the air where he sat with the group. "How is the Pharaoh supposed to defeat Dartz if rich boy's here with us?"

Seto was sitting next to Rose with his arms crossed, and he turned his hard stare to the blond, "I'd watch what you say, mutt," he grunted. Joey poked his tongue out before turning away, his nose in the air. Rose stifled a laugh, and to everyone's surprise Pegasus spoke up from his place just outside the circle.

"There is one thing that can help," he said, turning as he spoke to the group. Everyone turned to listen, eager to know what it was. "It's the card I gave him. If the Pharaoh draws it, he'll be able to unleash a force like no other."

Joey's eyes lit up, "And this card can beat Dartz?" he asked.

Pegasus nodded, before he started to explain what he came across while on his trip to Egypt. He said that during his expedition which inspired him to create the game of Duel Monsters, he came across a tablet that depicted three monsters known as Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos. Those three dragons seemed to guard the gateway between the monster world and the human world, but they had a secret. Pegasus continued to explain how back during the battle of Atlantis, Dartz turned three extraordinary knights into dragons in order to weaken them, and that he believed these dragons once were those soldiers.

"Therefore, I created a card which would be able to unlock their ancient power, and if the Pharaoh can draw it, and play it properly, he can defeat Dartz with those three knights."

"Well I hope it works," Yugi said, "But I guess all we can do is just sit here and wait."

Joey balled his hand into a fist, suddenly letting out the aggravation he'd been holding in the whole time, "But I can't wait!" he yelled, bursting up from his place. The minute he said that, the ground started shaking. Everyone jumped in surprise, and all turned to Joey. "That wasn't me, I swear!" he said, holding his arms up in defence. The group looked around, and found that everybody there was panicking, but why? What was going on?

Something then caught Rose's eye, and she looked up, staring in surprise at what was above her. "Uh, guys," she said wearily. "We have a problem." She pointed upwards, and the rest of the group followed her gaze, and saw the giant eye in the sky, much similar to the one they had seen in the sky of Domino. What worried them even more however, was that people were suddenly being pulled into the air, getting sucked in by the beast.

"It's the Laviathon!" Yugi exclaimed, his eyes wide. "And it's feeding on the souls that Dartz captured!"

"That's how it gains its strength," Pegasus said. "We don't have much time."

_I hope the Pharaoh can draw that card and defeat Dartz_, Rose thought as she stared up at the eye of the great beast. _Otherwise, were all done for!_ Just as her thoughts ceased, Rose felt like she had lost her balance, for her feet were connected to the ground anymore, but it was much worse.

"Rose!" Joey suddenly called out in panic, running over to grab her arm. She was getting pulled up towards the beast, and in a flash Yugi, Joey, Pegasus and even Seto were holding onto her, stopping her from getting sucked up into the Laviathon's clutches. The relief didn't last for long however, for Joey and Yugi were suddenly pulled off the ground, too, soon followed by Seto. Pegasus was the only one left standing on the ground, as Rose, Joey and Yugi grasped onto each other's arms, being pulled up towards the beast. Seto didn't seem very bothered at all, but of course to him none of this was real. Rose looked up and saw the eye was bigger than ever now, and they were only seconds away from being consumed by the beast.

Rose let out an 'eek', expecting to feel her whole being become consumed by the Laviathon, but nothing happened. She looked up in confusion, to see a slash across the eye, but before she could comment, they were pulled into the gaping hole.

Yami stood with his eyes wide in awe as the three legendary knights used their combined strength to bring his friends souls back, and soon he saw a small ball of light heading straight for him.

A bright smile spread across his face, "Yugi," he murmured.

_"Pharaoh!"_ Yugi's spirit appeared beside him once more, beaming from ear to ear, _"You won!" _

"I did," he said with a nod, "I'm so glad you're alright." Yugi just smiled and waved off his apologies, having already forgiven him for his mistake. Yugi looked around, seeing Kaiba, Mokuba, Tristan and Tea regaining consciousness. Then, making a grand entrance as he ran into the room with his arms wide, was none other than Joey.

"You did it!" He cheered with glee, tackling the man to the ground. Yami spluttered a reply as he tried to push the man off of him, and Yugi's spirit stood beside him laughing. "Er, sorry," he stood back up, helping Yami up with him, and the Pharaoh looked around.

"Where's Rose?" he asked, seeing no sign of her appearance.

Joey raised his eyebrows and looked around the group of people, "I thought she would have been here with you guys," he commented, scratching his head. Yami told him to wait there, and set off at a jog back to the helicopter. He knew that they hadn't reached the end of their battle against Dartz since he had disappeared, but he needed to find Rose first and make sure she was alright. After running through the winding halls of Dartz' lair, he ran down the front steps, spying the helicopter and Kaiba's men standing in front of it. Without answering their questioning looks, he ran around to the open door and climbed inside as his eyes scanned the contents of the helicopter. Soon his eyes landed on a figure lying across the seats at the front, right where they had left her.

"Rose..." he walked over to her, his eyebrows creased with worry.

_"Why hasn't she woken up?"_ Yugi asked as Yami kneeled next to their friend, _"Wasn't her soul freed with the rest of us?"_

"The knights said they would free our friends," Yami murmured, "I would have hoped that meant Rose, too..." He reached out and gently ran his hand across the Millennium Heart on her chest, it's solid gold surface radiating warmth.

_"Pharaoh, look!"_ Yugi said, pointing at their friend. Yami moved his eyes away from the heart just as he heard Rose groan. His eyes lit up as he saw her lift her arm to rub her eyes, and they opened, as deep brown irises stared up at him.

"Rose," he said, a smile bursting from his lips.

She creased her eyebrows and blinked a few more times, "...Pharaoh?" her eyes then lit up as her mind caught up with her, "Pharaoh!" she pulled herself into a sitting position, "Am I-does that mean-are we-" numerous words spilled from her mouth as she tried to ask three questions at once.

Yami just laughed and answered for her, "Yes, your soul was returned." A bright smile suddenly adorned her face, and she let out a cheer, wrapping her arms around him happily. Yami smiled as he returned the hug, glad that all of his friends were alright. "It's good to see you, too," he chuckled.

When Rose pulled back, she was smiling brightly, "And Yugi? Is he here too?"

Yugi's spirit appeared beside Yami, _"Right here, Rose,"_ he said, smiling at her.

"Yugi!" Rose cheered, "Get your butt in that body, I want to hug you, too." Yugi laughed and Yami simply chuckled, before the puzzle lit up and Yugi's smaller frame finally returned after a long time of being locked away. Rose squeaked with joy and wrapped the boy in an embrace, gaining a musical laugh in reply. She pulled back, holding Yugi's shoulders, "So Dartz is gone?" she asked. Yami's spirit appeared next to Yugi, though now he didn't look as happy as he did a moment ago.

_"Not quite,"_ he explained, _"After I defeated him he disappeared into a sort of vortex."_

"Well then we have to go after him!" Rose said, suddenly on her feet. With a smile and a nod, Yami returned to the puzzle and the two jumped out of the helicopter, before running back into Dartz' lair. Upon their return to the rest of the group, Rose had been tackled by Tea, Joey and Tristan, but Yugi had reminded them that it wasn't quite time to celebrate yet. Rose laughed as Joey helped her up, and they focused on the situation at hand. Yugi explained what Yami had told him, and everyone turned to the swirling circle that stood in the place where Dartz had been minutes ago.

"Is that what that thing is?" Joey asked, regarding it carefully. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go and finish what we started!" he said, turning back to the others.

"Well I'm going to get my company back," Seto said, walking towards the portal. Joey and Yugi quickly followed, and Rose went to go after them.

"Hold up just a second Rose," Tea demanded. Confused, she turned around. "You should leave this to the guys, it could be dangerous in there," she warned.

Rose dismissed Tea's worries with a wave of her hand, "Don't worry about me, I've got the Millennium Heart," she said with a grin, tapping the item on her chest, "Anyway, those three need all the help they can get," she said with a laugh, before disappearing through the portal.

Tea grumbled, crossing her arms, "Dammit, why is she so stubborn?"

Tristan simply laughed, "Let her go, Tea. Rose and the guys will be fine. I'm sure when the four of them work together, Dartz will have no chance." Tea simply crossed her arms and grumbled, while Mokuba laughed at her.

Meanwhile, Yugi, Kaiba and Joey had reached their destination, having gone through Dartz' portal.

"Whoa, this place looks like kind of a dump," Joey commented. Before Seto could make his own remark, they heard someone call out from behind them. The three men turned around and saw Rose coming out of the portal also, a grin on her face.

"What are you doing here?" Seto asked as she ran up beside them.

She rolled her eyes at him, "What does it look like? I've come to help."

"Well then let's go," Yugi said, looking up towards the top of the island they were standing on, where a green illumination was coming from. Rose nodded, and started to move towards their destination, but when she turned around to see if Yugi was coming, the Pharaoh had taken his place.

Soon, they found their way to the top, but what they came across was a still statue of Dartz, and as soon as Yami reached out to touch the figure, it evaporated into thin air. Joey was beyond confused, and asked what was going on, while Seto simply claimed it was another one of Dartz' 'cheap tricks'.

_"Is that your answer to everything, Kaiba?"_ A loud, booming voice echoed. They all looked around, wondering where Dartz' voice had come from.

"Where are you?" Yami demanded.

_"I'm right here, with the great Laviathon,"_ Dartz' voice echoed around them. Yami instantly jumped forwards, asking why Dartz was able to revive the beast without the four powerful souls he claimed he needed in order to do so. _"Yes, I did say that, didn't I?"_ Dartz said, his voice filled with amusement. "Well, I substituted your souls with an equally powerful one."

Rose's eyes widened as she realised what he had done, "Your soul."

_"Bingo."_

The four of them watched on in horror as the green illumination moved over to the ocean surrounding them, and the water started to swirl and churn in response, before a giant beast emerged, resembling something between a dragon and a snake. The Laviathon was so large that it was able to wrap its own tail all the way around the island they were standing on numerous times, and was still able to let out a menacing growl as it faced the four duelists. Seto simply insulted it as he stood with his arms crossed, commenting on how his white dragons were much better to look at. The Laviathon responded with a roar that shook the ground they were standing on, and Rose had to shield her eyes from the wind that came with it.

"Alright, that's it!" Joey announced, activating his duel disk, "Let's turn this beast into a pile of a pile of ashes!" His three comrades agreed, activating their duel disks also.

"Wait," Yami suddenly stopped, as he noticed Rose's sudden panicked expression. He turned to her as he reached into his belt, "I have your deck."

She let out a sigh of relief as he handed it to her, "Thank you." When she had seen the deck was gone, she had panicked thinking she had lost it, but thankfully Yami had kept the cards safe for her, and now she was going to put them to good use. They all turned towards the beast, drawing their best cards. "Dark Magician, Summoned Skull and Kuriboh!" Yami announced, placing the cards on his duel disk. Joey then pulled out his Flame Swordsman, Jinzo and Red Eyes Black Dragon, before Seto summoned his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon along with Gadget Soldier and Force Raider.

Rose then pulled out her cards, now having placed her deck back where it belonged, "Magician's Valkyria, Neo The Magic Swordsman and Chaos Command Magician!" She grinned as her monster appeared before her, and the three men beside her summoned their dragons: Timaeus, Critias and Hermos. Then Yami played his Legend Of Heart card, freeing them so that they could become Knights once again.

"Attack!" The four of them yelled in unison, pointing towards the one and only target: The Great Laviathon. All of their monsters banded together, attacking simultaneously at the beast with all the power they could muster, but it did almost no damage at all. The four of them stared up at the monster with wide eyes, as it then readied itself for a counter attack. Luckily, they were able to save their knights from being destroyed, however, every other monster was blown to pieces by the incredible power the Laviathon could muster.

"Aw, dammit," Rose cursed, "looking down at the card on her duel disk, "Why don't I have a Knight?"

"Rose, we've got bigger problems," Joey said pointing up at the sky. She looked up, and noticed that there was a colourful illumination coming through the clouds. _What the...?_ She tried to think about the last time she had seen such a sight. _This is just like that night, when the gateway opened up between the real world and the monster world_, she thought, staring up at the sky with wide eyes, _I hope this means they've come to help!_

* * *

Yay! They're free! Er, sorry if this part is boring and all, but I don't want to just skip it because it's kind of a big event in the anime so I'll do my best at rewriting it! Anyway, once this is done we move onto season 5! I'm sooooo excited to write it, because you'll all finally get to see what Rose's part in this whole thing is! It's what I've been working towards since I came up with the idea for this story! Also, although the start of season 5 isn't all that interesting to me, I've made it interesting ;) so i'm really keen to get that started, but I won't just skip over this part, you'll just have to wait!

Also, when I finish one of my current stories I have a bunch of different story ideas to start next, but I cant choose which! So go check out the poll on my profile and choose which ones you'd like to see me start, it would be heaps of help! One of them is a TMH side story too! ;)

Anyway, I hope you're all still enjoying the story :) please let me know what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	23. Chapter 47 - Clash Of The Beasts

**Chapter 47: Clash Of The Beasts**

Yami, Seto, Joey and Rose all stared up at the Great Laviathon in utter shock. Even after they had summoned their best monsters and they had received help from the monster world itself, all of their efforts were futile. With one blast, the beast had destroyed all of their monsters, including their last line of defence: the three legendary knights. Dartz's menacing laugh echoed around them as they stood there speechless, almost unable to move from the terror that faced them. Joey voiced his concern about destroying the beast, and they suddenly noticed all the monsters that were helping them were grabbed by tentacle-like objects that spurted from the skin of the Laviathon, drawing them towards it. The group stared up in horror, watching the beast consume each monster with ease, pulling them into its skin. Rose was trying to think of a new plan of action when her thoughts were interrupted by something invading her personal space. She let out a shriek at the presence of a dark coloured tendril reaching for her, and jumped backwards from it, but it only kept coming.

"Rose!" Yami called out, having been alerted to her current situation by her shriek. Rose was still quickly backing away from the thing, when her back hit a pillar, and she looked up with wide eyes. The extension of the beast suddenly lunged for her, and she squeezed her eyes shut, as the three men called out to her.

A moment passed, and nothing happened. Rose opened her eyes to see a familiar wall of light surrounding her, blocking her from the beast's attempts to capture her.

"Ha!" She yelled in triumph, jumping in her spot. "I've got the Millennium Heart, therefore you can't touch me, Dartz!" She saw the three men relax where they were, before they were caught by surprise by another 3 sets of tendrils reaching for them.

_"You may be safe Rose, but your companions are not!"_ Dartz bellowed, and Rose pushed herself away from the pillar as the three men fought off the beasts advances. Rose didn't know if she would be able to control the light shield that the Millennium Heart could conjure, but she made the decision in that moment to try. She ran over to them, just as Seto and Joey were pulled off of their feet, and she just managed to grab onto Yami's arm before he was pulled away, also.

"Joey! Seto!" she called out to them, but all she could do was watch as they were pulled up to the Laviathon. Yami turned to look at her, shocked at her attempts to keep him on the ground as they both struggled to free him from the grip that the beast had on him. "I won't-" Rose grunted as she pulled on his arm, "let you-" with much effort, she was able to pull him back a bit more, "get consumed-" she was then able to grab hold of his waist, "by the beast!" While one tendril was wrapped around Yami's waist, challenging Rose as she pulled Yami back, another one reached for her, but as expected, the Millennium Heart lit up and blocked it. She was hoping that it would protect Yami also, but maybe if she was closer to him it would work for the both of them.

Eventually, the beast withdrew it's attempts at grabbing them both, and Rose and Yami relaxed for a moment, still holding on to each other. Rose breathed a sigh of relief, letting go of the man, "Are you alright?"

He nodded, "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." Rose gave him a smile in return, before she looked over his shoulder and her eyes widened. She spotted several tendrils heading for them now, and she knew she wouldn't be able to fend them off just by playing tug-of-war this time. "Grab me!" she suddenly demanded, wrapping her arms around his waist in a constricting hug. Yami was caught by surprise, but upon looking over his shoulder and seeing the oncoming threat, he complied, holding her as tight as he could manage, and hoping that the Millennium Heart would know what to do.

_Please Millennium Heart,_ Rose thought, _Don't let them get to us_. She squeezed her eyes shut once again with her head resting on Yami's shoulder, her arms becoming sore from how tight she was holding him, and she felt the heart light up on her chest. She silently cheered, as she felt the presence of the light shield around her, but something wasn't right. Her thoughts were interrupted when Yami let out a startled gasp. Rose's eyes flew open and she noticed that the Heart shield was only surrounding her, and the several tendrils were now on them, prying Yami from her arms.

"No!" she grabbed onto him tighter, "Why isn't the heart protecting you?!" She felt his hands grasping the back of her shirt, as he replied.

"I don't know," he rasped in her ear, as the tendrils wrapped around his body, "But you're out only hope."

"Wait!" Rose shrieked, but Yami was torn from her arms, and she cursed, wishing she knew how to control the heart. "Pharaoh!" She watched as he was pulled up towards the beast with her other two comrades, and without even needing to think about it, the heart created another shield around her as the remaining tendrils reached for her. "Damn this!" Okay, now she needed a plan. She was the only one safe from the beast thanks to her Millennium item, but how was she going to help them now?

Dartz' laugh echoed around them once again as Yami, Joey and Seto tried to fight free of their confinements. _"I'm afraid your resistance is futile gentleman, for in a few short moments your energy will be given up to feed the Great Laviathon, and you shall join your friends inside the belly of the beast!"_

Rose looked up at her friends who were now being pulled into the beast, and heard voices calling out to them. _Is that...all the other souls...?_ Her thoughts were answered when she heard her friends voice that they could hear everyone inside the beast, as they were slowly pulled in.

"Rose!" Joey called out to her as he fought against the beast, "You gotta help us!" They were waist deep by this point, and Rose was left standing there almost speechless, her mind a blank sheet. What could she do? The heart could do nothing but protect her, and not even of her own control, it would just activate on its own. The sound of all the captured souls were making it hard to think and Rose tried to block them out, but in doing so, a thought occurred to her. That's when she noticed a duel monsters card lying on the ground. She picked it up and found that it was one of Yugi's dragons, and it gave her another idea that would help her out. She looked up at the monsters in the sky that hadn't been captured yet. _If the doorway is open..._she thought..._then the monsters are real!_ She held the card up, summoning the monster to her.

"Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress!" she called out, before the very dragon appeared before her. She jumped onto its back and told it to take her up to her friends, and it complied, flying up around the Laviathon and dodging it's attempts to fend them off. They finally reached where her three friends were trapped, but they were almost completely consumed by the beast. "Pharaoh, Joey, Seto," she grabbed their attention, though their heads were submerged, she knew they could hear her, which was part of her plan. "I have an idea, if you can hear all the souls that have been captured, then they should be able to hear you!" She almost thought she heard Yugi voice that he agreed to the idea, and the beast took a swipe at Rose and her dragon. Unfortunately, she had not been ready for such an attack, and she was knocked off of the Dragon as it was captured by the beast. Her scream echoed around them as she fell back down towards the island of Atlantis, but she never hit the ground. She opened her eyes, to see that once again the Millennium Heart was lit up, and surrounding her was the familiar gold shine, stopping her collision with the ground.

"Really?" she said to herself in disbelief, looking down and finding it odd that her feet were still off the ground, "What else can this thing do that I'm not aware of?" While she was distracted, the Heart let her down, and she fell onto her ass. Rose let out a groan as she rubbed her sore behind, before looking back up at the beast. In the time that she had been distracted, something big had obviously happened. The ground started to shake, light was pouring through the thick clouds, and Yami, Joey and Seto were spat out of the beast. Rose watched with wide eyes as they landed on the ground, and she blinked at them in confusion.

"How did you...?" She trailed off as she stared at the three, seemingly unharmed. Sure, she'd gotten an idea for how to help them, but she hadn't quite expected this.

Yami nodded towards the sky, "By summoning them." Rose turned her head skyward and her eyes caught sight of what was causing such a commotion. The three egyptian gods were descending from the skies, sheer power simply rolling off of them. Rose had seen them in action before, during Battle City, but never had they been all together, fighting against the same target rather than each other. Thus began the fierce battle between the three gods of Egypt and the great Laviathon, said to be twice as old. However, even though the beast of darkness was alive long before the pyramids were built, that didn't necessarily mean it was stronger.

The four duelists watched as the battle soared up into the skies, far beyond their sight and into the clouds. They could hear the fierce roar of the Laviathon as it stood its ground, with Dartz commanding it to attack the gods with all of its force. Great flashes of lightning lit up the darkened sky as the beasts clashed, before readying themselves for one final head to head attack. The group stood and listened, waiting for a victor to be declared. In an instant the dark clouds were lit up and there was a sound of a great explosion, echoing across the seas. Rose stood beside Yami, still staring up into the sky and hoping the gods were able to pull through for them. Soon, their prayers were answered when they caught sight of the Great Laviathon falling down through the clouds, before landing in the ocean and disappearing from sight.

"They did it!" Rose cheered. "That means all the souls Dartz captured will be set free, right?" she turned to Yami with a hopeful smile on her face.

He nodded, still looking out over the ocean, "Yes. See all those small sparks of light?" He pointed over where the sea was still rippling from the impact of the beast, and there were thousands of little dots of light rising from the ocean and heading to the bodies of which they belonged to. It was quite a sight to see, and Rose's eyes widened in awe. They didn't have much time to enjoy the sight however, for the island they were standing on soon began to shake.

"Oh man, now what?" Joey asked, looking around as he tried to keep his balance. Rose wasn't having much luck with her own balance, and stumbled into the blond, who laughed as he held his arms out to steady her. They were then alerted to the sound of concrete breaking as they noticed the pillars cracking and tumbling to the ground. "We've gotta get out of here!" Joey announced, pulling Rose by the arm as he turned to run in the opposite direction. Yami and Seto quickly followed as they made their way back to the passage which took them there, the island collapsing around them as they ran. Joey was running a lot faster than Rose anticipated, and because he was holding onto her arm, she soon tripped over broken bricks. Joey quickly let go of her and turned around just as Seto came up and grabbed her by the arm, swiftly pulling Rose to her feet.

"You really must practice this whole staying on your feet thing," Seto commented with a smirk as they continued to run towards the passage.

"Very funny," Rose muttered, before falling behind Seto so that they could enter the passage one by one. Joey reached it first, soon disappearing through the swirling doorway, and just as Seto crossed through, Rose noticed that she couldn't hear the sound of footsteps behind her anymore. She skidded to a stop in front of the passage, narrowly missing going straight through it, and turned around. Yugi had stopped where he was a few paces behind her, and she gave him a confused look. "What's the matter?" she asked.

Yami's spirit appeared next to the small duelist, _"Something's not right."_ Rose then noticed movement behind him, and when she looked to the source, her eyes widened. Yugi noticed this, and turned around, as Dartz appeared before them, his usual smirk only slightly faltered.

The man before them straightened up, a devious glint in his eyes, "Why so shocked? I couldn't say goodbye just yet." With the finish of his sentence his figure disappeared, and in his place the evil embodiment of the Laviathon rose up before them, its skin radiating the dark energy that fuelled it. Both Rose and Yugi had their mouths hanging wide open, unable to believe that the beast had returned after such a devastating attack from the three egyptian gods. They were sure that it was slightly weakened however, and hoped that this fact would work in their favour. Yami's spirit stood beside Yugi as the man summoned Timaeus and declared an attack. However, the beast was too much of a match for the legendary knight, and Yami quickly told Timaeus to return to his deck.

"What do we do?" Yugi asked, turning to the Pharaoh.

Yami's eyes narrowed as he stared up at the beast, "We fight."

"But we've tried everything," Rose commented, "And nothing seems to have worked." Not to mention that they were now down two people.

_"So you've come to your senses and given up?"_ Dartz asked, his voice echoing around them once more.

"Wrong," Yami growled.

_"Haven't you figured it out yet? All the monsters in the world combined together couldn't destroy my Laviathon,"_ Dartz boasted.

"Don't you see the Orichalcos is just brainwashing you?" Yami said, "You were lied to, lead to believe that mankind must be destroyed."

"Human beings aren't the evil ones," Rose added, stepping forward with clenched fists,"It's you!"

"And all of this madness started when those Orichalcos stones arrived," Yami explained, "Before that, your people lived in harmony in Atlantis, but then everything changed."

"Face it Dartz," Yugi said, "The orichalcos is using you to do it's dirty work!" They all stared up at the beast, waiting for an answer. Despite their persuasive speech however, Dartz didn't seem phased by their words, and simply laughed at them.

"Fine," Yami said, stepping forwards with his arms wide, "It seems you're never going to see reason, so if you want to wipe out mankind you'll have to go through me!"

The Laviathon instantly replied with a menacing growl, before it sprung from its place, heading straight for Yami, who stood his ground confidently, his eyes never leaving the beast.

Yugi's eyes went wide as panic enveloped him, "Pharaoh, no!"

* * *

Hey guys! So I'm really sorry for taking forever to write this chapter, usually I write each chapter for all my stories fairly promptly after I finish the last, but I got about halfway through this one and then had to work four days in a row (8 hour shifts kill me i swear) and I have to get up at 5am tomorrow to do another long shift, but it's done! So I hope you liked it, and there should only be one more chapter for the dragon arc, and then we'll be onto season 5! ooh im so excited for this xD there will be an interesting twist or two in this story very soon... :D and a few smaller ones, so get keen!

Anyway, please tell me what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	24. Chapter 48 - Old Instincts

**Chapter 48: Old Instincts**

Yami had thought that he'd be able to keep his eyes open and trained on the beast in front of him as the Laviathon lunged forwards, but at the last minute they had failed him, and closed upon instinct as he fought back the flinch that his body wanted to act upon. What surprised him however, was that instead of being attacked by the beast, he had heard the sound of it hitting something else. But if it hadn't reached him, then what had happened? He instantly flew his eyes back open in confusion and almost gaped at what he saw in front of him.

Rose had jumped between him and the beast, and surrounding them _both _was a glowing wall of semi-transparent gold. _She actually did it, _he thought as he stared at Rose in awe with wide eyes. _She put up a shield around us both! _He knew Rose was exerting a lot of her strength in doing it, too. Her arms were spread wide as she stood in front of him, while the Laviathon continuously tried to strike at the shield, each time showing how tense her body was as she fought against it. Yami then snapped out of his initial shock and ran forwards towards her.

"Rose, what are you doing?" he asked, before realising that as the distance between the two of them had changed, the shield had followed him inwards, and thus was now smaller. He noticed Rose relax ever so slightly. The beast was now roaring in anger, and Yugi had put his hands over his ears to try and drown out its screeching.

"Pharaoh, let me protect you," Rose replied, still facing the beast as she spoke, afraid that she would lose her concentration too easily. It was much more of an effort than she thought to get this shield up around both of them, let alone keeping it up, and she could already feel her muscles begging to let go. She had to raise her voice so he could hear her over the screeching of the Laviathon as she continued, "It's the least I can do after letting you down."

Yami was then confused, as he quickly raked his memory for what she meant by that. It didn't take too long for him to figure out what she was referring to. _She feels guilty about losing her duel to Mai, _he realised_. _He was about to reply, when something else occurred to him. It had only been triggered by those 4 simple words that Rose had just said to him-_let me protect you-_but it was something that had been plaguing his mind for a while.

_"What was that?" Yugi asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he sat up in his bed._

_"It sounds like some sort of disturbance coming from Rose's room," Yami noted, his spirit sitting on the end of the boy's bed._

_"I better check to see if she's okay..." Yugi got out of bed and opened his door. Rose's room was right across from his, and he heard another thud, followed by a murmur. He quietly padded across the hall and pushed Rose's bedroom door open._

_"Rose," he whispered, "Is everything alright?" There was no response. He looked across to the bed, where Rose was sprawled across the sheets, tossing and turning. She was murmuring something also, as if she were distressed. She rolled over again and hit the wall. Yugi guessed that's what had woken him. _

_"Can't...hold on..." Rose murmured. _

_"Should we wake her up? She appears to be having a nightmare," Yugi whispered, looking down at her with worry creasing his eyebrows._

_"That would probably be best," Yami replied. _

_Yugi walked over to the bed as Rose rolled over again, still murmuring, "always...protect..." _

Yami found himself staring into space, currently unaware of his surroundings as the thought dawned on him. Back then, they hadn't known anything about the Millennium Heart or Rose's past residing in Egypt with him. But now that he had this information, a small puzzle piece seemed to click together in his head. _In those nightmares of hers...could she have been trying to protect me...? _

Yami was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when the Laviathon took another strike at the wall surrounding them, and Rose let out a tense groan. She was struggling to keep the shield up, it was obvious even from where Yami was standing behind her. Her tense shoulders were trembling along with her arms that were still outstretched, and he could see her knees on the verge of buckling beneath her.

"Rose," he called out over the screeching of the beast, "You can't do this, it's exhausting you!" Although he couldn't see her face, he knew there was no doubt that she'd have that unbreakable mask of determination on.

Her voice was strained when she replied, "I'm fine, I won't let the beast get to you again. I have to make up for my mistake." Rose wasn't entirely sure if she would be able to stay on her feet for the duration of this conversation, let alone how long the Laviathon would be striking at them for, but she had to try, and she wasn't going to give up now.

"No you don't," Yami persisted, "I know what I have to do now, but you need to step aside." He hoped the earnest tone in his voice was enough to sway her.

Rose went to protest, "But you'll-"

"I'll be fine," Yami assured her. "Please, trust me."

A moment passed before anything happened. Yami wasn't sure if Rose had decided to drop the shield or if she had run out of strength to hold it up, but either way she instantly fell to her knees. The shimmering wall of light that surrounded them suddenly disappeared, and Rose put her hands on the ground in front of her, trying to steady her breathing. _Why did that take so much out of me...? _She thought, as she wondered why the ground looked like it was warping in front of her. Her arms were trembling as she fought to keep herself up, but soon she found the ground was growing closer, and next thing she knew she could feel the cool hard stone on her cheek. Voices were swirling around her as she tried to comprehend what was going on. She heard Yami call out her name, before he let out a shriek of surprise and there was a crash. Then, Rose could hear Yugi hovering above her, followed by him begging her to open her eyes, but no matter how much she wanted to respond, her body was drained of energy, and the voices around her became distant. It almost sounded peaceful to her, distant cries lulling her into a slumber. Not even the feeling of a hand on her shoulder and more panicked cries directed at her and Yami were able to pull her out of falling into unconsciousness, and the last thing she was aware of was a menacing laugh, that no doubt came from Dartz.

The next half an hour or so, Rose was barely aware of her surroundings. She would feel like she was waking up every now and again, but each time, it wouldn't take long for her to drift back into nothingness. As time went on, the distant commotion ceased, and she was slightly aware of a pair of strong arms wrapping around her and lifting her up, before she felt soft material on her cheek instead of the hard ground. She wanted to open her eyes, to find out what was going on and why it was suddenly quiet, but her body wouldn't allow it. The sound of a deep baritone voice above her suggested that Yugi and the Pharaoh had swapped, and so she welcomed the radiation of warmth from the person holding her, as she was carried away to an unknown destination. Had her mind been awake enough to think, she would have guessed that they were heading back to meet up with the gang. All too soon however, she was pulled back into unconsciousness, to wait out when she would wake again.

The sound of gentle waves lapping along a shoreline slowly reached Rose's ears, followed by the feeling of sand under her back. She quietly groaned as she felt all the feeling in her limbs return, sure that this time she was more awake than she had been since she collapsed. She carefully lifted an arm up to rub at her eyes, and she became aware of a person moving in the sand beside her.

"Rose...?" The Pharaoh. Despite her confusion for her current whereabouts and the events of the last half hour, the sound of his voice eased her slightly, and with little trouble, she opened her eyes. A warm afternoon sky filled with orange, pink, yellow and covered in soft clouds was the first thing she was aware of. She then turned her head to the side and saw Yami kneeling beside her, a gentle smile on his face. The rays of light from the sunset cast a warm glow over his features, and Rose silently mused to herself how gorgeous he looked in the afternoon sunlight. She then tried to clear her head of such thoughts, thinking that this was probably not the time to be assessing his looks.

"Hey," she croaked, pulling herself into a sitting position. She looked around, and just as she thought, they were on a beach. Rose was utterly confused, last time she checked, they hadn't been anywhere near a beach, so where were they?

"Are you alright?" Yami asked, placing a careful hand on her back as she looked down at herself, looking for any clear signs of damage.

Rose turned and smiled at him, "I'm fine," she replied. "But what on earth happened?"

Yami returned the smile, before he sat back in the sand once more, "I think the amount of energy you needed to use to keep that shield up was more than you could handle," he explained. "Though I have to say, I was amazed that you managed to pull it off."

Rose laughed softly, "When I want something enough, I'll eventually get it," she replied. "Though it did feel overwhelming."

Yami nodded in understanding, "Well, I managed to destroy the beast," he explained, before adding, "You were right, Rose."

"Hmm?" She tilted her head in confusion, "Right about what?"

He leaned back on his arms, "Do you remember back on the train, before we ran into Weevil?" he asked. Rose nodded. "You said that I was a good person, and didn't have to worry about falling into darkness." The corner of his lips twitched up into a soft smile. "You were right. In the end, it came down to what was inside my heart, and because I had chosen the light, I was strong enough to overcome the beast and destroy it."

Rose smiled, "That's great," she replied. "But...where are we?"

Yugi seemed to have been hiding in the puzzle until that moment, when his spirit appeared beside Yami. _"The island collapsed," _he explained. _"But the Dark Magician girl and a few other monsters lead us here so we didn't drown." _

Rose seemed satisfied with the explanation, and instead of worrying about how they were going to get back to the others, she decided she had a moment to enjoy the sunset while they were there. She mirrored Yami, leaning back on her hands as she looked out over the ocean, watching the waves move with the wind. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said to nobody in particular.

Yami was also staring out over the ocean as the sun cast its warm colourful rays over the water, "It is," he agreed. Now that he had some time to relax and think after all the stress and commotion of the last few days, he noticed that he was much more aware of the person beside him. He stole a sidewards glance at Rose, seeing her dark hair being caressed by the cool breeze. He tried to search his mind to find why he felt so odd, but before he got very far, a distant noise caught his attention.

"Is that...?" Rose didn't need to finish her sentence as the both of them recognised the KC helicopter heading towards them. With a relieved smile, Yami stood up, brushing the sand from his pants as he did so. He held his hand out to Rose, and she gladly accepted it as he helped her up, before Yugi took his place and they headed off down the beach towards where the helicopter was landing. Yugi and Rose were still running along the beach as the rest of the gang jumped out of the helicopter and greeted them, voicing how glad they were that the two of them were alright.

Seto stood in front of Rose with his arms crossed, "And here I thought you were right behind me," he joked.

Rose shrugged, "I was, but _you_ failed to notice that the Laviathon wasn't dead," she poked his chest with a smug smirk, and he waved her off lightly.

Yami's spirit hovered beside Yugi as Joey had the boy in a headlock, joking that he wasn't going to let the kid out of his sight. It was a pleasant scene, he thought to himself, seeing the gang surrounding Yugi while Rose joked with Kaiba and his brother. She seemed to be the only person who could have a half decent conversation with the man, he noticed. As he watched Rose interacting with the CEO however, he once again noticed something tugging at his mind. But what was it? He had gotten a slightly similar feeling when he met the girl, but he had figured it was because he used to know her when he was Pharaoh. This time it was different though, and he already knew of their familiarity back in Egypt. So if it wasn't that, then what was his mind trying to tell him? It felt like he was missing something, and it seemed almost important to him, but he just couldn't figure out what it was, no matter how much he dug in his mind. As everyone moved to get back into the helicopter, he sighed and turned to follow them. Rose paused just before she climbed into the helicopter, and turned back to him with a smile. He may not have been able to figure out what this odd feeling was, but he was sure of one thing: she had a damn beautiful smile.

* * *

Hey guys! So that's it for part 2! HOO-RAY. I'm actually really happy with how i ended Waking The Dragons, and I'm so excited i'm gonna start on part 3 right now! (well, once i post this more like) So I hope you liked the chapter and please let me know what you think! I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing! (And yes, there will be romance, calm yo shizz. I've got it all planned out, you just have to be patient xD It is quite a long story, after all) As with parts 1 and 2, part 3 will be its own story, so if you're not following me it may be hard to find out when it gets posted (wow thanks captain obvious /facepalm)

Anyway, I hope you're enjoyed part 2! Now onto part 3! (which i am yet to name, suggestions are always welcome)

Over and out,

PharaohsThrone :)


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